Kunai and Cellphone
by NoobZero
Summary: People, hidden in the shadows, are changing the Narutoverse introducing technologies from our world and attacking its future heroes. What may be their goal? What terrible changes this "new technology" will bring? Only one person seems able to make a stand against them: the only geek in the entire WORLD that didn't have read Naruto!
1. Chapter 1

Hello, i'm NoobZero, writter, Gamer and big reader. :-)

This project isn't only mine. It's a collaboration of three persons: Me (the writer), Demonkitteh (the councillor) and FoxyOwlofDoom (The Beta and Corrector). And Naruto isn't mine of course, it's Kishimoto's creation.

I'm sorry but the Naruto part begin only in chapter 2, the first chapter introduce the OCs and the plot of the story. Because the project is to make a story with a real plot about the travel to the Narutoverse. The OC doesn't just come to Narutoverse with a magic trick, there's a real story behind it.

I hope my writing style and the OCs will make you read everything. I... We hope that you'll like it. ;-)

P.S: I'm french, english isn't my first language so, please, tell me if i do many english mistakes.

Have a good reading ^^

* * *

Chapter 1

Atop a hill in the middle of a verdant forest, stood a particularly happy and smiling teacher in the spring-like sun. Proving that he was absolutely not aware of how ridiculous his amateur explorer's clothes were. He turned to his students who were laboriously climbing the trail to join him. He claimed cheerfully.

"Come on kids! It is such a beautiful day and the wind smells like nature. Buck up! "

His students replied with lamentations. One of them panted.

"It's easy for you to say Professor Scott. "

Some girl complained :

"If I had known I would have taken more appropriate footwear. My feet are already aching."

Another one retorted.

"How old are you? Seventeen or seventy?"

"It should be prohibited to force young people to camp in the middle of nowhere." Cried a pupil.

A blond one yelled.

"You think you're the only one to not have desired to come? I will miss a great concert because of that."

"And me a good Re-run of Doctor Who." Added the smallest one in the class.

A girl with jingling wooden pearls in her hairs exclaimed.

"Hey! We are here for several days so don't begin to complain."

"Shut up Redhead! We were not talking to you!" replied the irritated blond.

Professor Scott, feeling that the situation was escalating again, tried to do a new injection of exhilaration.

"Come On! Look around you. This forest is beautiful. Didn't I told you that there is nothing like Practical experience to study biology."

The little intervention of the teacher had the, kind of, desired effect. All of his students calmed down, each for they own reasons. Those happy to be here, including the red-haired, agreed gently with him. The others remembered who had pushed them in this backwater. But, not desiring to make an enemy of their teacher, especially near the end of the year, this one just grumbled inwardly or, on the worst case, in a low voice.

Relieved to have avoided a gang war, Professor Scott was about to resume work after launching another of his annoying replicas, or invigorating according to who heard it. When he was suddenly interrupted by the girl with beaded hair.

"Wait professor. "

He stopped before turning to the redhead.

"A problem Miss Ashford? "

She nodded, pointing behind her with her thumb.

"We have a latecomer."

The whole class turned to find something that Ryans not surprised them at all.

One of them, the student who drew, usually, the least attention to him, despite his curious pendants and dress code,was just beginning to catch up with the group. He was visibly more focused on his Playstation Vita than hiking itself.

"Why Ryans this not surprise me?" Asked a brunette.

The little one remarked.

"Always lagging behind. In classroom as in everyday life apparently."

"And did you see his clothes. This is so nerdy." Expressed some fashion victim. But the student had put the music in his headphones too loud to hear the contemptuous criticism addressed to him .

The Professor, exasperated by what he saw, screamed so loud that the birds around fled.

"MISTER STEVEN RYAN! TO IMMEDIATELY REPORT!"

This, on the contrary, Steven heard it, and it wasn't easy to overcome the Metallica's song he had in his ears. The other students began to worry and even panic for some.

A student Shaked.

"Alert ! Sergeant Scott is back."

The brunette moaned.

"Of all the biology's teachers in London, we had to finish with the one that has a military background."

His neighbor finished.

"And out of all the nerds in England, we had to get stuck with the one that can piss the Professor off in no time...".

The student with pendants saved his game before storing his portable console and headphones in the pockets of his jeans. He eventually joined his teacher without very a frightened face, compared to the others. Just because the concern was balanced by frustration at having to stop his game at an interesting moment. Walking towards his torturer, Steven Ryan thought: "What Ryans he want this time?".

He felt like an innocent prisoner about to appear before a judge convinced of his guiltiness. That was in any case how he considered it. He walked with edgy looks from his classmates, presaging how they would make him regret if they had problems because of him.

"Do not be silly." Whispered a student.

"Or believe me you will regret it." Threatened the blond.

The omen was a perfectly clear assertion now. The public in the court did not seem eager to support him, anyway, they would did it only for personal interest. But Steven didn't care at all. He calmly planted in front of his teacher with a face contorted by anger.

"Mr. Ryan..." Grumbled the teacher .

"Can I know what you were doing with a game console here?"

The young man replied with the bored tone of someone who was asked something obvious:

"It's evident no? I was playing."

Impatiently expressed.

"Do not start trying to outsmart me. I forbade to bring this kind of stuff..."

"To enjoy nature and fresh air. I know. Everybody know that." Steven finished wearily.

"Then why are you the only one in the class with one of these machines of doom? And the worst is that you slow down everybody with that."

Steven replied calmly, raising his forefinger, to defend his case as well as possible.

"Firstly Mr. Scott: If you think I'm the only one who brought a game console, I must tell you that you do not really know this class as well as you think."

Several student tensed with fear and inwardly called him a Moron.

Steven continued, raising a second finger.

"Secondly: Any smartphone can be used to play a lot of games. So it's not only the consoles, but also all cell phones in class you should forbid."

This time, it is the whole class that tensed and inwardly called Steven a Moron.

He concluded, showing three fingers.

"And finally Thirdly: I can walk at normal speed while playing without any problems. If I'm slower it's because my bag weighs more than the other."

The class and his teacher were a little surprised at that.

"Ha! Aren't you the weakest one?" Joked the blondie.

But the brunette tried, hesitantly, looking at Steven's luggage.

"It is true that his own seems bigger than the others. No?"

A student with a wick stated.

"Now that you mention it ... "

He glanced to his classmates with his visible eye

"It's true that he has the biggest bag."

"Moreover, I think it's not a camouflage pattern."

Informed the Fashion victim.

"But a True military bag."

"What ? It's really his own ?" Asked an exasperated student.

"I thought he was carrying stuffs for the Serg ... I mean, the teacher."

It was at this point that the beaded redhead sighed and walked over to his colleague with pendants to, difficultly, feel the weigh of the bag in question. She shared her conclusion puffing and panting.

"It is actually heavier. It even weigh very heavily in fact."

Steven looked with a thank-you smile to the redhead student, whom she did not responded. The teacher only just took a look at the ginger called Ashford before continuing to question the young man.

"And why is your package so heavy and bulky? I gave a specific list of items to bring."

"And I can assure you that I have everything that you ask faultless. I just did my personal additions." Claimed Steven.

The professor, who was beginning to be tired of his nonchalant attitude, questioned him, fearing the answer a bit.

"What additions?"

"You want a full inventory Sergeant?" Mocked the young man with a tired.

"Watch your attitude. You made us already waste a lot of time so be quick."

"Just my emergency equipment if I have to leave the house more than twenty-four hours Laptop, Smartphone, Touch pad, music player, a duplicate of each, USB sticks, Two Joysticks for Computer, all necessary wiring, a complete system of portable solar generator, my box of pendants My portable hard drives containing ten thousand books, comics and manga, Five thousands movies, TV series and Anime as well as three hundred games ... Oh! And some real books, just in case. "

The teacher nodded and replied.

"At least you took some books ... Wait a second ... YOU BROUGHT WHAAAT ?!"

All the students were speechless. The young Ashford did a real and slamming facepalm of exasperation. The blonde exclaimed.

"You believed you were leaving for a five-year mission or what Admiral Adama?"

Steven admitted with disdain.

"Nice try Blondie. But you mixed Star Trek with Battlestar Galactica, idiot."

"Who are you calling an idiot ?! And I have a name you know !" He replied.

That was the straw that broke the teacher's back. He exploded with a roar louder than a lion.

"MISTER RYAN! You will immediately come down to the bus, empty this bag in and come back with only the bare essential ! Is that clear ?!"

The teenager with pendants panicked as if he had just been announced that he has a price on his head.

"WHAAAAT ?! But what will I do without my stuffs?! What if it rains and let in water? Or a prowler burgle the bus when we are not here? Or an asteroid falls over? Or a being from another dimension try to call me on my cell and I'm not there to pick it up ? "

Some students froze in a rictus of astonishment. Others laughed without shame, knowing that Steven, even if he was panicking, sincerely believed that each of his theories were possible. Mr. Scott replied with the seriousness of a general on war: "I don't care! Professor Mitchell is still there to make some phone calls and gather materials. You'll Join him immediately, tell your report and do what I told you.

"But ..." Tried Steven.

"No 'but'! And to be sure you tell him exactly what I told you, miss Ashford will accompany you."

"But ..." Exclaimed the redhead.

"I said no 'But!' Go there now. Professor Mitchell knows the way to reach us." Seeing that the battle was well and truly lost. The two condamned students began to retrace their steps. The young man with a long sigh of frustration and anger, tinged with wailing. And the girl muttering, "Why did I involved?" and "All because of this idiot." They passed among the other students, relieved not to have suffered one of the collective punishments of the Sergeant Scott. Some, however, did not forget to laugh softly or glower at the eccentric duo.

On the way back, Steven and his partner in misfortune did not exchange a word until they could see their classmates and its commander. As soon as the man with the pendants could no longer see them, he sighed, lamenting.

"Ugh ... That teacher is so annoying ."

"Do not push it."

Interjected the red pearl, very irritated.

"It's your fault."

Steven replied with a disgruntled boredom.

"Oh sorry to not be standing to attention whenever Sergeant is talking."

The Ashford growled.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"So what?"

"It was you who brought all this useless stuffs and upset the teacher. He said he doesn't want to see any game consoles."

"He's the only one who can believe that three days in the forest listening to him can be more interesting than my J-Stars Victory VS imported from Japan. I already spend three quarters of my days in school, I don't understand why I should give up my stuffs outside. "

The girl grunted.

"I'll never understand how you can stay all the day in front of those stupid screens. You do not even understand what is wrote in this one."

"That's wrong. I told you ..."

She interjected.

"That you are learning Japanese I know. I know well enough how obsessed you are with all this Japanese things , even your haircut comes from one of those wacky character from a stupid manga."

"Pandora Heart isn't Stupid! And Oz is not ... Never Mind."

"You do not even have the same hair color. Yours are brown."

"It's doesn't matter."

The redhead sighed for the hundredth of that day. She reprimanded.

"You're worse than my little sister. Always Talking about this weird cartoons and her one-eyed idol in Naruto. Besides, before we left she asked me if I wanted to see some uncanny battle with her. "

The geek with pendants exclaimed, raising the index.

"Firstly: It's not Cartoons, it's Anime!"

He continued, more quietly, raising his middle finger.

"Secondly, I do not know if I've told you but, please, avoids to talk about Naruto ... I didn't..."

The girl with pearls Interrupted.

"Watched or read it. Yes you already told me. You are waiting for the story to end up before swallowing everything in one breath."

"That's it." Confirmed Steven.

The young Ashford declared, blowing.

"I sometimes feel like we're the only ones on earth to not have watched this series."

The geek replied.

"Don't Worry. Blondie and Fashion victim either did not see it."

The redhead doubted.

"I do not know if it reassures me to be compared to them. And are you forced to call them like this? You know people hate it when you call them by nicknames that you decided alone."

"You know I do not remember names easily Ria ..."

Steven reminded before adding, with some humor.

"And anyway, they only need to look at my clothes to hate me."

The one nicknamed Ria hesitated before speaking, as anyone searching how to tell the truth in a non-offensive way. She finished remarking.

"Well... you really don't go unnoticed. With all your tee-shirts with Dragons, warriors, wolves and other ... Not to mention the three chains on your studded belt or your collection of pendants. How many have you today ? Three? "

Steven confirmed.

"Yep. A pentacle, a triskele and a dragon. That's what suited the best with the black T-shirt with wolves that I wear. I hesitated between the triskele and a Chaos Star. But I thought that, as the wolf has a rather positive significance in Celtic cultures, it was more appropriate. "

The girl with pearls couldn't fail to note the hint of pride in her friend's voice. She rarely heard him spoking with a voice other than monotone or jaded. Truth is she rarely heard him speaking at all. She pointed out to him without malice.

"If you dressed yourself in a less... impressive way, people will find you less strange."

Steven replied, on the same tone.

"I don't care about what the others think of me if it's to tell me to be anything other than myself."

Ria laughed kindly listening to this replica, seemingly coming from one of those comics that her companion in misfortune adored. She admitted with a smile.

"That's what I respect the most about you, even if you expresse it so ridiculously. Ever since you gave me this pendant."

Ria took out from under her shirt a small chain of iron bearing a circle between two silver crescents. Her pleased face showed that she was delighted to have this jewel. Steven smiled, glad to see that she was still wearing the necklace he gave her a year ago. It was a smile of gratitude, thanking her for still having it. He told.

"The triple moon. A symbol supposed to represent the three states of the woman: The Virgin, the Mother and the Crone"

The redhead with pearls continued.

"You know a lot of things. Your mother never told you that if you just used half of the energy you put into your geek hobbies in the course, you would be the number One?"

Steven slowly lost his smile, looked at her and replied on a monotone voice.

"She must surely thought that Ria. But she'd never tell me. It would create some problems. This is not in the Agreement."

The girl felt stupid. She knew that his family was a sensitive topic and, thoughtlessly, she had referred to it. A heavy silence fell between the two students. Birdsong, coming back after the terror caused by the sergeant, didn't help. None of them really wanted to discuss. But, fortunately for Ria, the bus was in sight. She declared.

"Oh, look: We arrived."

"I can see that. I am not short-sighted."

The redhead growled.

"No need to be so brittle... Come on, let's hurry to find Mr. Mitchell. I prefer to climb again this hill as soon as possible to forget all that.".

The geek asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I thought you liked nature."

She confirmed, glaring at him.

"I LOVE nature. What I do not like are the bulbs feet caused by idiots who do not know when to shut up."

Steven just rolled his eyes, not very excited to bring a new argument.

Once in front of the bus, parked beside a lake, the students began to scearch Professor Mitchell. It's the girl who found him first. She pointed at him with her index. Their teacher was at in front of lake, near a small pile of boxes, tapping his phone in one hand.

"What is he doing ?" - Ria asked.

Steven guessed.

"Sergeant Scott said he had to call someone and he is next to a stack of unknown boxes. The most plausible theory is that he's working for the mafia and must deposited things for mafiosos coming later. This is diabolical. Who would suspect a bus full of students? "

Ria looked at him from the corner of her eye, afflicted, and asked with some pity.

"Is that all you could imagine? Reassure me you do not really mean what you say?"

Steven did not want to start a debate. He told, as if it was a joke.

"Not really. Ok, here we go."

Still, Ria could not help but admit that this scene was strange. She did not remember hearing teachers talking about boxes. And, especially, she did not understand why they did not ask students to carry them. She assumed, because it was the only logical answer, that they would have eventually ask for volunteers later.

Ria let Steven approaching alone their teacher. She preferred to be a little off, foreshadowing the potential admonition coming and to which she would not participate. But she assumed that everything would be okay in the end, knowing what connection Steven and Mitchell had.

Professor Mitchell seemed so concentrated in what he was doing he did not notice the arrival of students. The geek with pendants approached him smiling, ready to get his attention, but his call was interrupted by a leaf that the wind had sent in his face. He took it off grumbling. When it was done, he was next to his instructor. And what he saw frozed him of bewilderment.

The teacher, still unconscious of his presence, had in his left hand a mysterious metallic object overall cubic. It wasn't bigger than an apple and there was small cables. Others, attached to an outlet, joined the cellphone in his other hand. He was tapping over it, muttering, in his hoarse voice, all sorts of numbers, calculations and mathematical esoteric gibberish. Nothing seemed to be able to distract him, not even the mighty wind that fluttered the ponytail in which was attached his semi-curly black hairs.

Steven was so surprised , thrilled and confused at the same time that he couldn't pronounce anything. What was going before his eyes seemed coming out of one of his fantastic series or a science-fiction novel. The kind of event that should not happen in the real world.

Then, finally, Professor Mitchell pressed a button on his mobile phone and in the second, a small circular cavity opened on top of the cube. It came out a mesmerizing blue light that reflected in the glasses of the teacher.

Then small lightnings crackled in and out of the opening. Steven was surprised and frightened by this. Fearing a danger to himself and his teacher, he shouted "Be careful!" and, by reflex, smashed the box, projecting it on the floor, which had the effect of disconcerting instructor. This one, confused and shocked, rapidly dragged his gaze between the object and Steven. The teacher was wide-eyed and had a voice full of panic, as if Steven had just touched a priceless ancient relic.

"What? But ... When did you ...? YOU FOOL!"

He sets upon the device, its lightning cracking more and more, and touched it at the moment he uttered the insult. And that's when he grabbed it that everything begun, in front of the stunned young Ria.

With a loud din, a trembling electric bubble was created , it was more like plasma. It imprisoned within itself the two men, and the boxes, who seemed frozen like statues in water.

From outside, the bubble shrank suddenly, with everything in it, and disappeared in a flash of light barely stronger than one of a camera.

Inside, it was different. Steven was conscious the time he was paralyzed. It was a very strange feeling at first. Like being plunged suddenly into very hot water, charged with an energy that tickled every square centimeter of his skin, even under clothing. But there was no way to laughter, the situation does not lend itself to it.

Then there was this flash, hard enough to make anyone's eyes sting. But Steven was unable to blink to soothe the pain. He began to see pass through extraordinary things, wonderful scenes, somes incredibles or even impossibles: A pine forest in winter crossed by a sleigh pulled by a horse; A titanic creature devouring a fin animal under a greenish ocean; a crystal clear sea under a blinding sun; A sphere of light from what escaped gigantic rays to the stars; A planet with five moons reflecting off a bronze-colored lake; Dancing galaxies in the darkness of the void; A fight between a fiery warrior and one with metallic skin; A snowy mountain around which flew a scaly monstrosity; A flaming demon in a crumbling celestial world ; A steel city surrounded by columns of green energy; A desert where a group of green humanoids with four arms, rifles in hand, rode mastodons; A battle between pale horned warrior and a men in black armor throwing thunders; A beautiful villa in which a young man was walking in white and red dress; A faceless horror in the woods ... and so many more.

All of this defiled so quickly for Steven that he felt lost, confused, amazed, but also exhilarated and scared. But despite this mix of sensations, he had an intense feeling of 'déjà vu' with some of these scenes, that he knew, strangely, was not dreams or hallucinations. A part of him, deep in his soul, said, against all logic, that it was none of this, even in front the most amazing shows or the most strangely colored.

Finally, he underwent another bright flash which was accompanied by the feeling of being hit by a powerful wave. A strong shot that gave him a crushing headashe and the horrible feeling that all his energy was dispersed to the four winds. The fantastic show stopped and Steven was once again in control of his movement. But the incredible exhaustion that had just strucked him, and a monumental pain throughout body, made him directly collapse face down on the earth and grass, overwhelmed by the weight of his heavy bag. Everything was in darkness. All he saw, before falling into the unconscious, was a blade of grass and moonlit trees.

* * *

Here we are.

Thank you to all those who read this chapter :-)

I promise the Naruto meeting is in the next chapter.

Hope you'll be there.


	2. Chapter 2

If you're still here it is that this fanfiction interested you. Thank you very much ^^

I hope you enjoy this chapter too, Naruto part finally begins. There is Japanese words, I put their translation at the end of the chapter. Have a good reading. ^^

I just remind you that i'm not english ^^' Sorry for the eventual mistakes

Thank you to FoxyOwlofDoom for her correction.

* * *

The young man with pendants finally regain his senses. But he was always drained of forces. So that he would not yet open his eyes. He seemed to have slept for hours but, despite this, wanted to continue a little longer. But the overwhelming mass that was on his back gradually became unbearable, especially with the stones on which he was lying. He finally opened his eyes. The blinding light that appeared made him close them on. He opened them slowly, getting used to the light, to discover himself surrounded by trees and bushes.

It took a little while to Steven to decide a move and gather enough energy for that. He got up very slowly, not only because of the weight of his bag, but because he had aches all over and that his headache was not completely gone. The young geek sat on the ground, releasing the overwhelming weight he carried on his shoulders.

He breathed grumbling, his head in his hands. He hardly thought.

'Damn ... This headache ... This fatigue ... I did not feel as bad since the night when I saw all the Lord of the Rings movies in one sitting.'

Steven sat, eyes closed, for a while. The migraine finally went away as he looked around him. There were only trees, bushes and shrubs that did not let him see very far. He thought he was in the middle of the forest for a while. But he saw neither the bus nor paths or familiar faces.

It was only then that he realized a terrible fact: he was completely alone.

He rose full of fear and called aloud.

"Professor Mitchell! Ria! Where are you ?! Someone?"

Steven looked around him. There was no answer, just birdsongs. He dared not go elsewhere. being lost in an unfamiliar wood, after such a disturbing experience, does not really give the will to move. The teenager took out quickly, from a pocket of his jeans, his mobile phone MyPhone Zeta. His anxiety only increased when he discovered he had no network. He looked at the screen to see what time it was. Failing to locate himself in space, he hoped to do so in time. But it was also a failure. The device indicated half-past twenty-three. He looked at the black watch on his handful to check. Same conclusion. The geek calculated.

"The bus deposited us at noon. Or these two machines are broken, but there's little chance obviously, or I have indeed slept a whole lot of time. Yet there is sun ... "

The young geek sat down heavily. He had an urgent need for stability. He breathed slowly to recover his calm. Once he did it, he tried to remember what happened. He remembered well the teacher, the strange gadget and all the emotions he felt for what seemed, henceforth, to be only an exhausting but wonderful dream. It was the strong sense of déjà vu that intrigued him the most; But it has become very blurred in his mind, he had difficulty remembering exactly what he saw.

This entire crazyness gave him the impression of a nightmare, or a delirium coming out of a bad Shonen. It was all the same to him.

"With such a beggining, I do not even know if my story would take twenty chapters."

Doing geek humor helped Steven to relax. Then he heard a sound in the distance. Something he recognized but which he did not expect.

A barking. A small bark.

'A puppy?' He asked.

Then he heard someone shouted.

"MATE Akamaru!"

Steven was even more surprised. He couldn't not recognize that language.

'Japanese? In England? '

The young boy with pendants approached the large bush in the direction from which the sounds seemed to come. He tried to see through. To be discreet, and fearing what he could discover; he stretch out on the grass and pushed gently some branches at the base of the plant. Steven froze with fear, eyes wide. Half surprises, he found himself face to an adorable puppy with white coat and brown ears. But it would probably be more lovely if it was not growling at him, showing his teeth.

"Akamaru" growled the voice, now closer.

It was a child's voice, a little boy. From where he was, Steven could only see his little feet, wearing a kind of blue shoes-sandals. The child seemed to ask his dog, apparently, what was its problem. But the geek was too worried by the angry animal to fully understand what the child was saying. Seeing how the fangs of the animal were sharp, Steven swallowed a big blow.

Meeting someone should have reassured him, but that boy speaking another language had the opposite effect. And the fact that he was accompanied by an aggressive beast, no matter how small it was, worsen the situation. Steven was already very confused by all that had happened to him. If he made his situation more strange, he felt he would eventually panicked. He had to remove the child and his dog before one of them go through the bush.

The fear of being bitten gave an idea to the teenager. Without moving from his place, he opened one of the side pockets of his backpack and pulled out, panicking, a small airtight bag. He took out, pointing it at the beast, a big stick of dried beef.

Immediately the animal snorted and stopped growling. It seemed rather curious now. Steven swung the meat to his right, as far as possible on the other side of the bush. The dog chased the food in the second, bringing to more shouts in Japanese from his young master who ran after him.

"Nani? MATTE Akamaru!"

Without losing a moment, Steven put his bag on his back and ran in the opposite direction, among other trees and shrubs. He hoped to have fled quietly and quickly enough to not have the child and beast behind him. Only after a few moments of a very hard race, even with the weight of his military bag, Steven ends up in what appeared to be a street. He panicked for good seeing that it was not deserted. The few passers-by, whose clothes were surprising for a modern Londoner, looked at him in surprise, mainly because of his own dress. But the young geek, completely terrified by his surroundings, ran to a dark, narrow alley hoping to hide there.

The young man stopped when he thought to be sufficiently hidden. The alley where he was reeked of alcohol, trash and other things that Steven preferred not to think about for the moment. It was obviously the kind of alley used by the restaurants and shops for their trash and old boxes. Steven put down his bag and tried to catch his breath, without his nose. His lack of endurance, result from a lack of exercise, was obvious.

Once his heart rate stabilized and his nose sadly accustomed to the smell, the young geek cleared his mind.

"Well ... try to stay calm and sum up."

He raised his index finger.

"Firstly, I am in a completely foreign place, that has nothing to do with England and where people speak clearly Japanese."

He held a second finger.

"Secondly, I am alone, without any idea of where Professor Mitchell or Ria, if she was involved in all this."

He concluded by raising a third finger.

"And thirdly, I'm getting hungry and thirsty."

Steven thought about what he declared and was teary-eyed.

He lamented.

"Actually, this summary is more disturbing than anything else. What could have happen?"

He thought for a moment before concluding.

"I know! The mafiosos who came for the boxes kidnapped me and put me in a virtual reality program to keep me prisoner like in the Matrix ... No, it makes perfect sense but it does not explain the strange device of the teacher. "

Maybe it was a dream. But the teenager rejected this hypothesis. He had already dreamed, but never so clearly, strong and consistent. Dreams were generally much stranger, it seemed to be some "logic" in his surroundings. He pinched himself to be sure. No result.

The teenager with pendants, feeling again about to lose his calm, did the only thing that could bring him comfort and stability. He promptly pulled out his Playstation Vita and spent a good half hour slaughtering waves of enemies on an imported Dynasty Warrior.

Steven didn't believed himself, at first, but it worked pretty well. The Japanese Beat Them All helped him to evacuated some stress while accustoming his mind to the Japanese language. The boy putted away his console and, although reluctant, decided to take a look around.

He took his heavy package and stepped cautiously into the dark little street. He looked discreetely in a sunnier one. It seemed empty of people, for now. But before to completely go, Steven saw far away, leaving him stunned, a mysterious mountain carved with four giant faces. He stammered.

"That ... What's that? Mount Rushmore? No, this face there is clearly not George Washington. He look nothing like the guy in Assassin's Creed 3"

A strong sense of déjà vu imposed to him, again. He was certain to have seen this mountain somewhere before. He tried to remember.

'Let's see ... It was not during class or on TV ... Not in a game ... It must be on the internet.'

He was certain this but he was not sure. He finally put his feet on the street and thought.

'In all video games, when you arrive in a completely unknown place, the thing you're supposed to do is... to explore I guess.'

Steven had to force himself to walk in this city; Everything was so different from London or Bristol, the only two cities he knew. The place was clearly in an ancient Japanese style, laced with a touch of modernity, his hours in front of Anime and Manga could not mistake him. He found it hard not to run and hide when he saw a passerby. But he could not do it everywhere, and it would have made him very suspect. He tried not to look too long at peoples passing by. The people, on the other hands, stared all at him with a very troublesome curiosity. Steven thought:

'I feel like a freak. They are worse than my classmates ... Well not really. They seem rather curious and surprised, not dismissive. '

He could not blame them. His clothes, which was already not very discreet at his home contrasted even more than usual with his surroundings. And it was even more uncomfortable when he attracted the eye of mysterious people in black tracksuit and green jacket without sleeves. Those ones sometimes regarded him with suspicion that make you shudder. Steven therefore avoided the too populated streets. But these people also reminded him of something, and they all had this symbol on the metal plates they wore. He had the unpleasant impression of missing the obvious, but his mind could not remember what. He was too stressed and stretched to operate normally his memory.

During his exploration, he found a flower shop. The colorful plants attracted the young geek, who found them relaxing in the chaos that became his life. He stood for a moment looking at the various white, red and blue bouquets. It reminded him of the garden of his grandmother. He was drawn from his daydream by the hesitating voice of a young girl.

"Anou ... Sumimasen."

Steven jumped a little. He turned and saw an adorable little blonde girl, who could not be more than six or seven years old. She seemed a bit curious, as any child facing something strange and unknown. His gaze was clearly looking at Steven's clothes. The blonde ends up clearing her throat before asking him, in Japanese, on a joyful tone.

"Can I help you?"

The boy needed a moment to find out how to respond. Speaking English was not a good idea, of course. He did an effort of memory to remember his Japanese classes. He congratulated himself inwardly. 'Fortunately, I have studied this language during the French lesson.' Steven finally answered to the child, trying, as best possible, to have no accent.

"No, thank you. I was just looking."

He growled inwardly as his pronunciation, although good, was not perfect. The girl looked back curiously. Then she asked innocently.

"Are you a foreigner?"

Steven hesitated but this point, he could not really hide it.

"Y ... Yeah, that's it."

"And where do you come from?" Questioned the little blonde.

Steven hesitated a second. He replied:

"Far far away. Beyond the mountains and seas."

The girl seemed impressed.

"Oooh. And what's your country's name?"

There, Steven felt that this could continue forever, and he did not really want to say he came from a country called United Kingdom or invent a lie. Not necessarily ashamed of lying to a child, but because, unaware of where he was, he couldn't invent a credible one. He attempted a diversion with a soft voice and gently stroking her head:

"You're adorable. But a little too curious."

The girl looked disconcerted for a moment. A little embarrassed. Then she warned with a bit of fury.

"Hey You will mess up my hairs. My mother worked hard on it."

Steven quickly removed his hand when she pouted, he could not help but find it even cuter. Geek apologized, sneering.

"Sorry little blonde ..."

The girl growled, trying to do her hairs again. The look of Steven was then attracted by a shrub. A little surprised, he slowly lost his radiant face. It was a young plant but it had already several flowers drooping with a lovely pale lavender. The girl seemed intrigued by seeing his mood change. Steven looked wistfully at the shrub. Then, reforming a hint of a smile, he named the plant as if nothing was.

"It is ... a wisteria. Isn't it?"

The girl at first surprise, smiled again became discovering his interest for a beautiful plant. She confirmed.

"Yes that's right. You know flowers?"

Steven had a draft laugh and replied.

"No, not really. But my grandfather always had plenty on his house. I've never understood why. There was no other plants in his home."

The child explained.

"This is because they symbolize Welcoming. It mean to those who enter that they are welcome."

Steven asked with surprised eyes.

"Really?"

The blonde certified.

"Absolutely. The flowers has many meanings . My mother teaches me. Your grandfather loves flowers ?"

Steven said, keeping a smile on the edge of not being one.

"I doubt it. He died."

For a moment, the blonde was shocked and very embarrassed.

"Gomenasai ..." She apologized.

Steven smiled.

"You do not have to apologize. You did not know."

This did not prevent the girl to rub her arm with shame. She looked at the wisteria and had an innocent idea as only children can have. She took a small flowers and handed it to the stranger and wished him with a big smile.

" Welcome to Konoha sir."

Steven seemed a bit surprised for a moment. But he could only melt before this angel face. Her gift and her smile touched his heart. He took the flower and placed it on one of his pendants. He gave the little girl, with a big smile, a cautious pat on the head, to not destroy her hairstyle, again, to which she replied with a playful chuckle and slightly red cheeks. He thanked her.

"Thank you kid. You are lovely."

Then his mind froze, like his cheerful face was immersed in liquid azote. His eyes were more open than ever. He asked in thought.

'Wait a minute... She said what?'

The voice of a woman, who had witnessed the scene from a distance, and thus found a new topic to discuss with other mothers and her husband, began to call the girl gently:

"Ino-chan! Come back, it will be time for lunch."

"I'm coming mom." She announced.

She bowed slightly to the young stranger, admitting.

"I hope we'll see you again sir."

Steven, his mind like a crashed computer, could only shake his head twice, frozen in a smile, muttering an affirmation.

The child departed, leaving the young man with a face saying "SYSTEM ERROR". First, there was denials by humor.

'She was probably joking.' He thought.

But the girl did not seem to mock him. He tensed. Then the pure denial.

'She could not have said what I thought I heard '

But his ears, despite the hours spent listening to music, worked fine. He tensed more. After he tried to analyze the information again.

'She said, "Konoha" isn't it?'

His mind could not confirm that. The tension was at its peak. His mind could not accept that possibility. Logic and common sense could not let him accept it.

It was after a minute, petrified like a statue among the flowers, that the elastic snapped. He ran off like a rocket. Only stopping once arrived in a street where he could see the mountain with the four faces. His face contorted by an interior hilarity. And beads of sweat began to trickle down his face. He firmly fixed the sculptures in stone, wanting at all costs to detect any evidence that he was insane or dreaming.

The pieces finally automatically fall into place in his head: Konoha, Japanese, clothes, the symbol on the metal plates, this mountain ... He had seen it hundred ... No, THOUSANDS of times on the internet, on images, photos, profiles on social network, in stores, at conventions ...

The conclusion imposed by putting aside the logic. Steven speculated.

'I'm in Konoha? LikeTHE Konoha of Naruto?

He remained dazed in the middle of the street. Without saying a word.

But in his head, he shouted:

'WHAT THE HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL ?!'

-xXx-

A little further, a teenage girl with purple hair trotted happily down the street, carrying a huge pile of boxes containing his meal. Smiling, she sang:

"Dan-Go Dan-Go, Oichiii Desu."

The girl's head was in the clouds. She was eager to get home to open a bottle of sake and enjoy her Dangos. She thought with great joy.

'It's too awesome! I was finally accepted into the T&I department and I have a mountain of delicious Dango to celebrateit! Nothing could spoil this wonderful day. '

But, distraction and blocked vision does not prevent problems, even for a kunoichi. The pile of Dango box she had was so big that she could not see properly in front of her. As she turned the corner of a street, she bumped with something that made them fall, her and the obstacle. She rubbed her lower back before looking at what happened.

Steven took a deep breath. The shock he received almost made him have a new panic crisis. He had been so stuck in his mind he did not even know how long he was there. He looked around him and saw a girl the same age as him, with purple hair in a spiky ponytail. He was a little embarrassed when he saw that her clothes showed a lot, although the association of the skirt, meshes and coat seemed very stylish.

The two looked in each other's eyes for a moment. Both were surprised and intrigued by the other one, because of their look.

Then they realized the mess they caused around them.

The floor was littered with dozens of sticks with colored balls. Steven recognized the famous Dangos he could see in his Japanese lessons. It did not take him long to take responsibility for this disaster. The famous Dangos were now inedible, he stammered an apology.

"Ah ... I ... I'm sorry."

He stopped when he saw the dark face and trembling body of her. He thought with shame.

'Oh my God. Don't tell me she's crying ... "

The kunoichi spoke with a booming voice that worried Steven.

"Sorry? You say you're sorry? This does not change the fact that you destroyed my dinner ..."

She then grabbed obscure daggers between each of her fingers. Then she revealed a figure filled with a boundless rage and a deep desire of murder. Steven even saw the eyes of a serial killer and an aura of darkness. The ninja screamed.

"I do not care who you are ... Your death will be slow and VERY PAINFUL!"

This threat frightened the geek and made him scream very loud. Without losing a moment, he ran away like a little mouse followed closely by a rabid tiger. A chase then started between the young man and the angry kunoichi.

The fear felt Steven, seeing the monster behind him, made him reach a speed which he would never have thought being capable of, despite the weight of his military bag. For the first time in his life, he felt that his life was really in danger. He called for help while running, but no response. He prayed inwardly.

'God, Kami, Allah, Mother Nature or anyone else ... For God's sake ... SAVE MEEEEEEE !'

A French expression: "Fear gives wings." Steven discovered that day that, instead of wings, it made survival instincts much more sharp and alert. He knew he could not run like that for too long. His lack of stamina would eventually put him in danger. He turned down on an avenue he recognized immediately, the small alley where he had hidden earlier was there. The fear of death gave him a strange idea, the kind that only a geek can have.

'There's no chance that it could works.' He reflects.

He looked for a moment behind him. The Hell's Messenger was still there, howling with rage. Eager to eat him with her demon's fangs.

'I NEED TO TRY !' He concludes.

Steven sprinted and turned, hoping to have left enough space between him and the crazy one to make his idea work, however strange it may be.

-xXx-

The Kunoichi was ready to gut him, skin him, cut him into pieces ... She wanted to use on this stupid funny guy all the stuff that led her to being accepted in the T&I department. It was not a day like any other for her. None would ruin such a perfect day without paying for it. Anyone would celebrate the passing of an examination or obtaining a new job. But for her it was more than that. Much more important than anything. Ruin a perfect moment like this was unforgivable. That's why she wanted to smash him, as weirdly dressed the stranger was.

His future victim suddenly accelerated and disappeared at the corner of a small alley. She lost eye contact just some seconds. But when she entered in the dirty and dark street, filled with small bins, boxes and garbage bag, she saw nobody. Normally, she would have stopped, curious, and would try to understand. But this time, the rage blinded her completely. She did not stop more than a moment before continuing the race looking in all directions, at all intersections, like a big cats looking for the track of its prey.

Even more upset to have lost it, she continued to run at full speed, barking.

"Where are you , BASTARD ?! If I catch you, I swear you will cry more than tears!"

She went, drunk with rage, looking for the odd young man in the maze of streets of Konoha.

-xXx-

The young man had real difficulties to stand quiet. But the desire to live was a good motivation to contain, afraid of the mad killer. He heard her for a horrible second, during which he came even to not breathe as he tried to appear non-existent.

He heard the girl with a coat going away fast. The threat she screamed made him tremble, moaning. He tensed for fear of being heard, but her footsteps seemed more and more distant. When there was nothing suspects heard, he dared take a look out of his hiding spot.

Steven lifted a little large cardboard box in which he was sheltered. The area seemed safe. Completely dumbfounded, the geek said with total surprise:

"I cannot believe it... The Cardboard box trick worked ..."

He expressed his thanks, tears in his eyes full of gratitude and relief.

"Lord Kojima... Lord Snake ... THANK YOU!"

He got out of the big boxe, thanking also the merchants who had left their garbage in the alley.

The young boy with pendants looked around to check, once again, that the place was clear. When he was reassured once and for all, he took a deep breath, cursing the girl with a coat.

"But who was that ... Psychopath? I've never been chased like this ... in real life."

Again he had tears in his eyes.

"I was more scared than in Amnesia and Resident Evil 3. Between her and Nemesis, I do not know what is worse. "

The geek calmed, adjusted his camouflage bag and walked in the streets of the city, making sure on each street to not find again the enraged kunoichi.

He watched everything around him with a different vision. The first time, everything seemed curious, friendly and pretty cool. Now that he knew, though he always had trouble to accept it, that he was in a place from a manga, he thought nothing could be true. The young boy with pendants looked around to forcing himself to accept this. He thought.

'By comparing this to what I saw in all my games, manga and anime, it only remains three possibilities. The dream, the virtual world and the inter-dimensional travel'

Each of these assumptions were perfectly plausible in his geek mind. But he never imagined he could finish in a situation like in his favorite works. He had dreamed, innocently, that kind of things, as any fan. But to imagining it and living it were two different things.

Some might be undoubtedly pleased if that kind of thing happened to them, those who have nothing. The others would be completely panicking and desperate to find themselves far from their family, their friends, their routine... In short, their lives.

But Steven, he felt a little in between. Gradually realizing all the implications of this "Voyage", he began, rather than panic, to have a heavy heart. He thought of the possibility to be permanently stuck in this world of which he knew nothing. This idea clasped his heart for a moment. The image of his mother came to his mind, he wanted to sigh. Then it was that of his father. There, he did not feel so much. He would miss his room for sure.

He preferred to push out this thoughts from his mind as far as possible. He thought about the machine of Professor Mitchell. He did not seem to have used it for the first time. He did not know what it was, or what link there was between the cube and the teacher. Had he discovered it? Had he invented it? Steven knew he was intelligent, but at this point? What was certain is that this device should be able to bring him back to England. It does not thought about the fact that the teacher has perhaps not land in the same world, he could not know where he was, or, by touching this gadget, he could have done something serious enough to lose them both.

Steven did not think either about how he felt in that place. For now, his mind needed the hope of return. Or, more accurately, the illusion he had a choice between here and his home. It was too radical of a change of environment for its taste and feeling to matter. Although he did not seemed to panic or depress. In the eyes of curious passersby, he rather lounged Lost in his thoughts.

The young man walked a long time, until the sun begun to set. Steven found himself in a small park. The kind where people walk around with their children.

The mind still elsewhere, he finally put his pack on the ground and sit heavily on a bench, almost automatically, eyes closed facing the sky. He collapsed on the furniture of the park, tired, hungry, thirsty and depressed. He wasn't only more advanced than when he woke up, but he did not know what to do now. He did not know where was his teacher and even where he would sleep. Maybe he could return in the hidden place where he had awakened. He had a sleeping bag and game consoles. Enough to have a livable night.

'I probably will be the poshest tramp in the world ... in this world.' He thought with a little humor.

He opened his eyes to see the orange sky, crossed by slime cottony clouds.

Steven heard a small sound to his right. He resumed his mind and turned his head, curious, in that direction. His eye fell on a little boy. The geek asked in his head.

'Still a child? And a blond one? There is more blond than I can imagine or do I attract them? '

The young geek went back straight and looked at the cute little boy. His blue eyes like a perfect sky, or pure sea, were quite mesmerizing and full of curiosity, most likely about Steven. His blond spiky hairs and funny marks on the cheeks, like cat mustaches, titillated Steven's memory. This time, he made an effort to remember, for not to feel stupid again.

The answer came quickly and, on his own astonishment, did not really surprised him. He considerated.

'It was inevitable that this would happens if I am in Konoha. At some time.'

He asked the little boy, a little hesitantly.

"You're ... Uzumaki Naruto. Isn't it?"

The child seemed surprised. And he moved away a little bit with a worried face. Steven, intrigued, took a relaxed pose, his elbows on the bench. Then he smiled and joked.

"You do not have to be afraid. I know I look very weird, but I will not eat you."

The child did not relax. Steven feared that he said something stupid or scary, in one way or another. He asked, trying to joke.

"Did I made a mistake?"

The little blond, hesitantly and without looking abroad in the eyes, finally answered with a low voice.

"No ... It's me."

Steven thought he was very sluggish for a five or six years old boy.

"You're a stranger?" Asked the child.

Geek groused internally 'How many times will they ask me this?' before answering.

"Yes I am. I come from a far far far away country. So far that you cannot imagine it."

Before to say anything else, Steven thought that, maybe, he should move away from the hero of the story.

This was a real headache for the young geek: If he chats with Naruto, will he changes something in the frame of the story? He did not know what would happen after all, because he didn't read the manga. Were the story well-fixed, as a form of destiny? In which case, whatever he does will not change anything. But perhaps it was a mistake to think that. Since this would be considered that it was entering into a story, not a world apart. And he had no way to have an answer for that. The three assumptions, and some unconscious, clashed in the brain's geek.

Steven did not like complicate things. He had always rejected the problems too complicate in his life, at least those of the real world. This time, he thought that any of his actions could, perhaps, have serious consequences. It was a completely new weight on his shoulders, a too heavy one. He concludes.

'I can't be sure, I'd better get away from him. At least until I know more. Everything should go "as it is" to him. He is the hero after all. '

He tried something that could potentially stop the discussion and allow him to move away from the boy before making any mistake. He said sweetly.

"It's getting late you know little. You should go home before your parents get worried."

The child looked even more sullen. Steven did not understand immediately.

"What ?" He asked.

The child replied with a heavy voice.

"I ... do not have parents."

The geek slapped himself mentally. He, who wanted to avoid to make a mistake, he blundered. He was angry, thinking how logic, but sad, it seemed.

'The authors usually give to their main characters a difficult childhood. This make the characters more interesting. Naruto might not be an exception. What an idiot ... I have to find something else to say. '

Steven spoke again, trying to correct his mistake.

"What about your friends? You must have one or two."

Naruto replied:

"... I do not."

Steven almost wanted to condemn himself to death. He blundered again. The geek started to panic. The child seemed about to cry. Panicking, he tried once again.

"Come on, there must be someone who take care of you."

Naruto raised his head, thinking. Then a smile formed on his face and he told.

"Well ... there's the Hokage. He is nice with me. He offers me Ramen sometimes ..."

The young with pendants relaxed. He had more or less fixed his mistake. The blond boy continued.

"Yesterday, for example, it was my birthday, the 10th of October. This was also the day of the festival to celebrate the victory of the Fourth Hokage on Kyubii. I do not know why but everyone is nastier than usual with me that day. They call me "demon". There even was drunk peoples who wanted to send a bottle on me. "

'Error NOT repaired!' Steven commented in thought.

Naruto looked sadder than before. Looking at the child, Steven knew why there was so much Fanfiction about him, he looked like a good boy who did not deserve loneliness. He understood quite what he feels. What he did not understand was why people called him "demon". He seemed too nice to hurt anyone but himself. And, as a Shonen hero, he should be a good person. Normally, Steven would have made dozens of different theories, any one stranger than the others, but he did not want to do that for now.

"... Sorry." Declared the geek.

That was all he could do for now. Naruto did not flinch. The geek was ashamed to have hurt him. It was also quite new to him. Then he had one last idea, which took precedence over any other consideration or concern. One that was more likely to work.

He grabbed his backpack next to him and opened it. With a curious gaze of the little hero, Steven reached into his stuffs. Naruto seemed very intrigued by the strange big and shiny objects that he could see inside. Finally, the geek pulled out a small box made of gray metal.

When he opened it, he revealed a staggering collection with many kind of pendants, of metal or wood, of all forms. Animals, watches, symbols, medieval mini-weapons. Their metal shone slightly in the dusk sun. The boy rummaged in his bazaar a few seconds before leaving a small silver circle with a five-pointed star and five small junk crystals blue as sky, like the eyes of Naruto.

The geek looked at the jewel for a moment before closing the box, storing it and then handed the pendant to the blond one, a little disconcerted. The geek said cheerfully.

"Consider this as a late birthday present, and a present to apologize for reminding you sad thoughts."

Naruto seemed completely lost and bewildered. No one ever gave him a gift like that, except the Hokage. Much more astonishing, no one apologized for having made him sad. Confused, the child could only ask:

"Wha ... What is it?"

Steven explained as a teacher.

"It's a pentacle. A symbol that, I think, looks like you. Everybody declares it's something bad, but they do not look it properly. When we know it, we realize it is something very beneficial and powerful. And the small stones are the same color as your eyes. "

Naruto did not know what to say. But he questioned the stranger.

"How can you be so sure of what you're saying?"

Steven realized that the child was referring to his opinion about him. The geek cursed himself for having spoken without thinking. He replied.

"I have a very good intuition."

Then he tied the pendant around Naruto's neck, adjusting it so that it was near his heart.

The little blond stared at the jewel between his fingers, then looked up at the stranger who smiled sympathetically. He had not seen that look often. The boy grinned and declared.

"Thank you sir. You are weird but I like you."

Steven thought.

'I absolutely do not know how to react to that.'

A deep growl sounded. Naruto's stomach actually. He rose from the bench speaking.

"I have to go. I'm hungry. Hopefully we'll meet again sir ..."

Naruto stopped, he did not know the name of the stranger. Steven realized what was bothering him and anticipated his question.

"My name is Steven Ryan."

The child looked even more confused. The geek had mentioned his name in English and none of them knew how to do it in Japanese. Without thinking, Steven told him.

"Call me as you want."

The child tried to pronounce the name of the teenager with various Japanese sounds. It was a pretty funny show for the geek, but also very embarrassing.

"Su-Ti-Bu ... Ra-Ya-No ... Rai-A-No ... Ok, I'll call you Rai-San."

Steven was disoriented.

'Now I do not know if I have found it annoying or Super Cool.'

Naruto waved one last time to Rai-San and went, disappearing at a corner of the park, near of the bench.

The young geek sighed. For a second, he had the unpleasant feeling that perhaps he did a mistake, because of his emotions. But he had no time to think longer because he heard a cold voice, a little further.

"Do not move, Demon."

Steven was surprised. Who was it ? Was he talking about Naruto? It was precisely the trembling voice of the little blond who replied.

"Wh ... What do you want?"

The caller did not answered immediately. This silence worried Steven, who stood up and hidden behind a tree at the corner where had gone Naruto. Steven discovered a man, in dark and dirty green kimono, with eyes full of hatred. In the absence of the headband, the teenager assumed he was one of the famous civilians who hated Naruto. He declared with deep disgust.

"You will not tarnish this village by your presence now."

Steven was afraid at that. What did he have in mind? The man in green then declared.

"Today demon, you will die once and for all."

The next moment, the civil took an object from inside his kimono. A large and long metal object that Steven recognized. But he could not accept it, because it was beyond the logic of this world.

-xXx-

Groans could be heard at the entrance of the park. A girl in a trench coat was beginning to be tired to run everywhere. She couldn't believe she lost someone so "visible". Unless he is a very powerful ninja, she did not see how he could have escaped. She then looked absolutely everywhere, all over Konoha. She was about to give up, the evening had nearly fallen, but she saw in front of her the source of all her rage. She thought.

'Ah! Here he is! This time he will not escape me! '

She paused to discover that he seemed to be hiding behind a tree, looking at something with a shocked face. She turned her head and saw a child and a civilian in green kimono. She knew who was the little blond although he was back. She had sometimes seen him walking the streets. The civilian uttered a threat and took something shiny out of his clothing. Something reflecting the last rays of the sun, preventing a clear distinction of what it was. The man in green pointed the object on the child with some hatred about to be satisfied.

Then she saw the young with pendants running.

-xXx-

Time seemed to freeze for the teenager. What he had in front of him cut off his breathing, it could not exist in this place.

The civilian was holding the object that was paralyzing Steven with fear, for a moment that seemed infinite. The man in green savored this moment and the surprised eyes of the little blond. The child not knowing what he had before his eyes. One clear thought unraveled the tangled mind of the young with pendants:

'He'll kill Naruto!'

The body of geek govern alone. He ran to the civil shouting

"Watch out!"

The civilian was surprised but didn't have time to make any gesture. The geek jumped on him and brought down him to the ground. The young man smashed him in the face once. The pain of this action, completely new to him, made him hold his hand lamenting. He felt like the bones of his fingers was about to break in pieces. But the attacker began to struggle, and Steven replied immediately by hitting back with the other hand.

Taking advantage of the confusion and pain of his opponent, Steven grabbed the metal object and hid it in a pocket of his jeans. the object was too big, but his wolf tee-shirt, very wide, covered what exceeded.

Steven got up and walked away from the civilian, without losing sight of him, also making Naruto moving back, completely lost.

He almost ran away with the child when a new voice, masculine and authoritative, asked:

"What 's happening here?"

Steven looked up and saw a ninja wearing a strange mask looking like some sort of dog. The warrior watched, a kunai in his hand. The man with silver hairs reminded something to Steven but he didn't have time to think about it.

"Who are you?" Steven asked, trembling.

The masked ninja explained with force.

"I am the one who ask the questions. Just know that I'm the guardian of this child."

Steven said to justified:

"This man threatened him."

Naruto could not say anything, he was too shocked at what happened.

"That's true." Confirmed a voice behind Steven.

He turned and saw the girl with purple hairs who scared him so much earlier. He normally would have cared, but the fact that she confirmed what he told surprised and relaxed him. She continued her testimony.

"He clearly said he was going to kill that brat. And I'm sure you've heard it too."

The masked man did not move and remained silent for a moment. He ended by asking Steven.

"Who are you?"

The trench coat girl looked at the geek, eager to know his identity. The young man with pendants needed to make a great effort to regain his composure and replied.

"Just ... Just a stranger. I was just passing by this town."

Naruto's protector did nothing. Steven doubted that it was enough but, for some reason, the masked man did not insist. The ninja looked down at the civilian. The man in green seemed frightened because he knew what was going to happen to him.

The protector grabbed the civilian and did an arm lock to him. He threw the man to the girl with purple hairs, who caught him and put her kunai to his throat. The masked man demanded to the girl.

"Bring him to the Hokage, he will know what to do."

She agreed with a nod before the masked ninja disappears in a cloud of smoke.

Steven did not have the time to rave about that. He turned his head toward the girl, who addressed him suspiciously.

"I give you some advice. Do not stay too long in this town."

"I'll ... do my best." Steven stammered.

She started to go naruto's abuser when, suddenly, she turned to the young with pendants telling:

"And you owe me a mountain of Dangos. You gonna pay me isn't it?"

Steven replied automatically.

"I would have without problem... if I had some money."

The kunoichi sighed and pleaded him, gasping:

"Then just... do not cross my path ever again."

Steven watched the kunoichi going away until she disappeared on another street.

He realized then that the little blond was still at his side. He still seemed shocked, but a little better than before. Steven told him, going to his bag.

"You should really go home this time."

When the geek took his backpack, the child asked him.

"Where are you going?"

Steven looked at the child and said sincerely, too mentally exhausted to invent a lie.

"... I do not know."

The little blond questioned.

"You do not know where to sleep?"

Steven expressed.

"I just arrived in town."

"And you do not have money."

The geek sighed, remembering this detail. Naruto offered him falteringly, playing with his fingers.

"... You can sleep at my apartment if you want. Just for one night."

Steven turned his astonished gaze to the child. Seeing his look, the geek realized it was more a demand than a proposition. The little blonde must be frightened by what just happened. Someone tried to took his life after all. He needed the presence of his savior. Steven would have preferred to reject his proposal, but he realized that, not only it was that or sleep outside, but also that he did not have the heart to do that.

"Are you sure?" Questioned the geek.

Naruto confirmed.

"Yes. I didn't understood everything but ... I understood that you saved my life. It's the least I can do.".

Steven did not know what to say. But obviously, he had more to gain by accepting the offer than refusing it. Tired by all this strange day, Steven just told him, without thinking to much.

"I follow you then."

The child smiled and showed him the way.

The young man with pendants merely follow. He was completely disoriented. In less than a day, he discovered he was in a world from a manga, he was chased by a mad girl, he met a future hero and saved his life from something even more strange.

The young geek touched the object in his pocket. The weapon he confiscated from the civilian full of hate. He would not believe what he had in his pocket, it was illogical and horrible. But after all that happened to him, he had no real choice but to accept the unbelievable. He turned his eyes to the metallic object and thought, puzzled and worried:

'I've never read or seen this series... But I'm sure at 100% that there is no GUNS in Naruto.'

* * *

Again thank you everyone. :-)

Hope to see you for the third chapter. If you have any criticism, recommendation, question or request. Feel free to ask me by message or review. ;-)

Here are the translations:

MATE Akamaru = Wait Akamaru

Nani? = What?

Anou ... Sumimasen = sorry.

Gomenasai = I'm sorry


	3. Chapter 3

Firstly, I thank the author of my very first review and all those who have decided to follow my fanfiction: Lunamyx Voldy, viday, adrienb45, Christel300595, Tenshi0 and Lina Lemon. Demonkitteh and FoxyOwlofDoom also thanks you.

I'm sorry for the wait but, simply put, I had many problems, little time and a high fever when I had a little T-T But here's the new chapter, its length also explains why I did not put it out earlier. We hope the result will please you even more. Let's go. ;-)

I remind that i'm not english so I beg your pardon if my english translation is bad T-T Thank you

* * *

Chapter 3 :

_Steven walked into a corridor of concrete walls with peeling paint, passing in front of the prison doors of empty cells. He went downstairs and came into the kitchen. A robot with a human, female form was cooking in a pan that felt nothing. The teenager did not stop, nor even glanced at the machine. He did not hear her when she says that the meal would be ready soon. He simply took a can of iced tea in a fridge filled only, and forever, with this drink. _

_He saw an armada of ships burning in a sea of green flames. _

_At the bottom of the stairs, he heard a very stirring jazz music. An old record had started in the living room. It was like a trigger in Steven's mind, a weight dropped suddenly on him. Tears began running down his cheeks. He began to leap up the stairs. He was running away from the music, covering his ears. He crossed the hall to a wooden door with a sign "Danger Zone Steven: Do Not Enter!." He opened the door without hesitation and was blinded by a strong light. _

_He saw an angel of death steeling a black stone. _

_Then everything stopped, as if someone had pressed the switch._

* * *

The sun began to attack Steven. The young man slowly opened his eyes. The sun's rays were hurting them. The teenager mechanically sat on his sleeping bag, his mind completely confused by the mists of awakening. He seemed to had a terrible nightmare, he had only a few snippets of memory, thankfully. He grabbed his MyPhone Zeta to see the time. It was seven in the morning. Steven had set his watch last night, looking at the clock on the wall of the apartment.

He was still sleepy, but when the sun, the worst enemies of geek after school, was intervening, the battle was already lost.

In his confused mind, Steven thought, briefly, that his day in Konoha was only a long and strange dream. But he saw where he was and who was sleeping in the bed next to him. His half-hope disappeared in no time. He stood there for a moment, doing nothing, staring into space.

Not wishing to wake the little blonde who crumpled up his coverage, Steven got up silently. He took out his MusicPlayer-3 from his bag and went quietly to the balcony, leaning on the railing. His eyes looked the village, his digital music player in the ears, listening to some Hans Zimmer's music. His mind had, once again, to convince himself about where he was right now. Steven needed a quiet time to wake up and put some order in his head. Unaware he was under surveillance.

He spend half an hour sitting there, looking at the city. His mind was galvanized by the dramatic music in his ears. He thought about all the things he might never see now. But, strangely, except for a few games he really wanted to play, there was really few things that he was saddened by. He did not even have tears in his eyes. He did not feel that he would miss anyone. Except for his mother, whose absence gave him a pang.

Nevertheless, he had to continue to believe he could go to London one day, finding the teacher and the strange cubic gadget. Otherwise he felt his spirit would collapse from panic.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he jumped when the little blonde touched his shoulder. He did not feel it coming at all.

"Are you okay?" Asked Naruto innocently.

Steven removed his earphones. Then he reassured him, stroking his head.

"Yes I am. I have difficulty waking up, that's all."

The little blond seemed curious seeing the two white cables that his guest had put in his ears. Steven put them away and asked, before the child questioned about it, if he had something to eat.

The child ran to his small kitchen. Steven got up, glanced one last time at the city, now sunny, then joined the small blonde. The geek could not help but notice that the apartment was in an incredible mess. The ground was littered with rollers, clothes and even ramen boxes. It reminded him a little about his own room in London. The child offered him one of his boxes. Steven, very reluctant to eat this, told with a voice as gentle as possible.

"Um ... You know ... Noodle for breakfast ... It's not the best food."

The child replied with a curious air, as if what he has said made no sense.

"But ramen is the best dish in the world."

'It looks like he has never tasted a pizza with pepperoni and cheese ... poor child.' Steven sighed.

Understanding it was the best he would have, and not wanting to sadden Naruto again, Steven accepted the box of ramen, smiling. They put hot water in their instant meals and sat at the table, waiting. Naruto looked at the geek with small eyes and an innocent smile. He was still wearing the pentacle he received from Steven yesterday.

'He didn't slept with it, isn't it? 'Steven wondered.

Even him never slept with his pendants.

Steven did not know what to say or do. He avoided the best he could to look at the child's eyes. He hoped that the little blond remain calm, but his prayers were not heard. The child questioned him, hesitantly.

"Rai-san ... Where do you come from?"

Steven, even though he expected to hear that, was getting fed up with this kind of question. He gave him another bogus answer.

"From a very far far away country."

Naruto insisted.

"Yes, but how is it? What's its name?"

Exactly the kind of question that Steven wanted to avoid. The geek tried a feint by saying softly.

"You're really curious."

Naruto seemed embarrassed. He lost his smile and looked at his feet. Steven understood he took this as a critics, a form of rejection. Steven was angry at himself again. He hesitated between talk to him, not really knowing what to say, and remain silent. In the second case, the child would remain a little sad but Steven would not take the risk of saying too much about the place where he come from. The geek looked at Naruto's eyes and, very reluctant, could not help trying to fix his new mistakes.

"Uh ... Do not take it wrong. This is not a bad thing."

Naruto looked back at Steven with surprised eyes. Then he smiled and asked to the geek with energy.

"So it does not bother you that I ask you things?"

The English teenager wept inwardly.

'Oops! I trapped myself. '

Steven said, uncomfortable, with a drop on his forehead.

"No ... Not really."

The child was enthusiastic.

"That's cool ! I have not many people to talk to."

Steven understood why he apparently would not escape to this innocent interrogation. Naruto must have felt very lonely. He seemed like the archetypal hero with a lonely childhood, ready to attach to anyone who would be kind enough to speak to him. Steven could understand that.

But now, Steven felt bad about lying to him. Since he was not going to tell Naruto that he came from another world, or that in this one, he was the hero of a world-famous fiction. No need to be a genius to understand that he would not believe it. And anyway, he doubted that it would be good for the child's ego.

Naruto began to talk with Steven. The geek had trouble finding plausible answers. He was forced to remain very vague, saying that he was coming from a country named Brittania.

When Naruto asked him what had brought him to Konoha, the geek had even more difficulties to answer. The teenager told the most simple excuses, praying for it to work. He explained that he wanted to see the world, to travel, and Konoha was on his way. Naruto seemed to believe that lie easily.

But when the child wanted to know what was in Steven's bag, and what he had in the ears earlier. The geek had no choice but to pretend it was private and that nobody ask about that kind of things.

When they finished their ramen, the little blond asked details to Steven about his country. Having growed among London's concrete and smoke, Steven had to do an effort of imagination to pretend that it was a country full of beautiful forests, great rivers and mainly inhabited by crows.

Fearing the insistence of the little blond, Steven tried to ask him politely if he hadn't planned things this morning. To his relief, Naruto remembered that he had planned to train. Easily recalling the synopsis of the manga, Steven insisted that he must go, pretending not wanting to prevent him to become stronger. Naruto replied.

"But I still want to discuss."

Steven spoke with a kind franchise that surprised him afterwards.

"Do not act as a child. If you want to become Hokage, you have to train yourself every day. We can talk later, but the efforts, it's now or never. So Hurry Up!"

The child seemed surprised. He asked Steven.

"How do you know I want to be Hokage?"

'DAMN IT!' Steven smashed himself mentally. 'What an idiot! He didn't told me this detail. '

The teenager tried to explain quickly, completely panicked.

"Well ... All kids want to be a great ninja isn't it? And there is no stronger ninja than the Hokage isn't it?"

Naruto hesitated, worrying the geek. But the boy said.

"It's true. That makes sense."

The geek relaxed. The child ran to his room and dressed, before going through the door of his apartment, Naruto asked on a worried tone.

"You will be there when I return?"

The English boy hesitated. He did not really want to stay here all day, but he had no other places to land. He assured Naruto to be there at nineteen o'clock. The child smiled and went waving at the geek. This one remained in his chair without moving. He did not know what to do now.

The geek liked to be quiet and to think again. But he already had a moment like this on the balcony, and he did not feel that this changed anything. He still had no idea what happened to him, where the teacher was or how he could return home. He thoughts he maybe should just pray for a TARDIS to come to take him away from here. It might be unrealistic to believe that the Doctor of a sci-fi series would help him getting home. But after his experiences, Steven felt that he should question the definition of 'Reality' itself.

The teenager then searched in his bag, looking for a t-shirt. He needed a shower. And seizing one of his clothing, he saw the object that frightened him yesterday. The thing that should not even be imaginable in this place. Hidden under the coat, Steven found the gun that had nearly killed Naruto. A large and bright Colt Python.

The geek was not a gun expert, but he had seen this one in the first Resident Evil. But between a set of polygons and a cold objects bigger than his two fists together, the difference was huge for Steven. He was very frightened.

He couldn't touch it. It was as if the object were radioactive, in addition to not possibly exist. Fear and excitement mingled with a delicious confusion because it was engraved on the weapon: "Made in USA". This meant that it necessarily came from his world, it was disturbing to say that an object as deadly could bring a real boost of hope. Especially since Steven had discovered that neither he nor Naruto had really been in danger, the villager had forgotten to take off the security of the weapon. Steven did not take it, to not feel uncomfortable.

He dropped another garment on the horrible object and went to the shower with a pendant in the shape of a scorpion, another pentacle, a mini shield with a dragon and a T-shirt with a very stylized samurai. Steven thought.

'Perhaps with this I will go unnoticed. I can always dream. '

* * *

It was past noon and Steven walked the streets with his earphones. He had eaten another Naruto's box of instant ramen. He had cogitated, or rather depressed all morning. He found thousands of scenarios that could explain what was the Professor's cube and how he could have found it. But he still not have any concrete answer. He had the feeling of having lost a lot of time, and felt guilty for it. Steven was really beginning to despair. After his meal, he thought a small stroll, listening to Nirvana, would help him get better. It didn't.

The geek had almost listened their entire discography without realizing it, lost in melancholic thoughts. He paid no attention to the passers-by he met, or their curious stares. His new suit had visibly changed nothing, and the white cables he had in the ears did not help. His music did not made him remarked that he was followed.

Then Steven arrived in a street where a good smell tickled his nostrils.

Steven stopped in front of the shop from which escaped the enticing fragrance. He recognized the scent of ramen, but he didn't immediately recognized it because it was a much more appetizing aroma than the one he smelled earlier. The last kanji in the name of the restaurant gave a hard time to the Steven's memory, but he understood that it was named "Ramen Ichiraku."

The geek would have loved to take a look inside, but it would not have made sense since he had already eaten and he had not any money. He then turned around to return to his stroll with "Come as you are" in the ears.

But he was interrupted by a youthful voice that even his song couldn't cover. A girl screamed.

"WHAT RUBBISH!"

The next moment, Steven received a blow on the head and felt a warm liquid all over his upper body, and some sticky things flowing under his shirt.

The geek froze with surprise and disgust for a while before removing the object he had on his head, discovering it was a bowl. It did not take him long to understand what happened. Someone had thrown a bowl of ramen on him.

Steven took off his earphones, perceiving the voice of an angry old man in the restaurant. The teenager entered, the bowl in his hand, then found a satisfactory situation, but that he felt ashamed to stop. A little girl in Chinese red dress, with two buns, was scolded by an old cook. This one was lecturing her as if she had committed an unforgivable heresy. But he stopped his sermon seeing the odd teenager clothes, covered with soup and noodles. The next moment, the girl turned her intrigued face, with bright red cheeks, to him.

They stood for a moment without saying a word, firstly because they had never seen someone so strangely dressed, secondly because they did not know what to say. It's the geek who tried something. He cleared his throat and, showing the dish in his hand, asked hesitantly.

"Uh ... Is this bowl yours?"

The old man realized what happened. He was deeply shocked and bowed apologetically behind his stand.

"Gomenasai !"

Steven was very embarrassed.

"It's... It's okay. No need to apologize. This is not you who launched this ramen isn't it?"

The keeper replied, still inclined.

"But it's one of my dishes that made your clothes dirty!"

He got up and looked angrily the child that he scolded. He told her sternly.

"Tenten-chan, Apologize to this man immediately."

She descended from her chair and bowed to Steven. With a small voice, she begged the geek's forgiveness. The boy sensed something was wrong with this child. He looked at her little face and saw that her eyes were red. She cried.

But he remembered that he had been chased by a monster the last time he thought that he saw a crying girl. Steven stepped back, inquisitive, and took a poor martial arts posture, looking more like a bad tightrope walker. Steven asked the girl.

"Are you crying or are you angry?"

The child sulked. She denied it with an edgy, but adorable, look.

"... I'm not angry. And I did not cry."

Steven relaxed, understanding that she wouldn't harm him. He got back to a normal posture and accepted the apologies of the little girl. He spoke to the cook.

"Excuse me but ... Do you have a towel?"

The old man jumped, embarrassed, and said, bowing again.

"Of course. Wait a second."

The cook ran to his back room, leaving Steven and Tenten alone. Steven, who had had enough of staying embarrassed to say a word, asked her to sit down. She did so in the second. Steven tried to recall if he had heard about a Naruto's character named Tenten. He only remembered some vague comments, during conventions and on the internet, describing her as "underrated" or "underused". This did not help at all.

The cook came back with a towel which Steven used rubbing his head as much as possible. The old man took the opportunity to ask him the same question almost everyone asked him. Steven told him his best lie. He was a young man eager to travel coming from a land across the seas. The cook seemed to accept this story, as Naruto before him.

But after rubbing hard with the towel, Steven had to accept the fact that he would surely smell like ramens until his next shower. The geek looked at the girl who gave him this new perfume and realized she was not feeling good. He could not be angry against a child who was rubbing her eyes, sniffling. Steven sighed, cursing his compassion, and finally asked her gently.

"What's the matter little girl ? Are you crying because you've been scolded?"

The girl replied eagerly.

"Of course not. And I do not cry."

Steven raised the eyes to heaven before continuing.

"Can you tell me, at least, why you threw a bowl of Ramen on my head?"

"Gomenasai" Screamed again the cook, surprising Steven.

The girl spoke with a slight but clear sense of shame.

"Sorry. I wanted to throw it on nobody. I was angry."

Steven continued.

"Against who or what?"

"Against the noodles." Tenten said. "I have found nothing inside."

The stranger was really confused. He turned his gaze to the cook with the hope of an answer. But he responded to him with a shrug of the shoulders, showing that he was as lost as the geek. He continued.

"And ... What did you hoped to find?"

"A solution to help my dad."

Now, Steven didn't understood at all. He thought it was, perhaps, one of those manga characters a bit silly but endearing. But he saw that she was sad. So he did not laugh at her, even internally. He asked, smiling.

"Can you explain me everything from the beginning?"

Tenten looked at him with her little red eyes, not knowing if she could tell this to a stranger. Her mother had told her to not talk to strangers. But he seemed nice, and despite her young age, she was ashamed because of the ramen incident. She gave him a small nod of approval and began her story.

"This morning I woke up like every day. But when I went down to the kitchen to get my breakfast, I saw that shinobis were talking to my dad and my mom. And they did not seemed happy at all. My dad told them he was in his forge yesterday in the evening and my mom said it was true. Afterwards, the shinobis left but my parents refused to tell me what they wanted. So I ate my miso soup and went to play. But not long after, the ninjas came back and they asked to speak to my parents. I listened to them in secret, mom says it's not good but I can't refrain. I did not understand everything, they used a lot of complicated words, but I understood they believe that my dad was not in his forge. It's our mean neighbor who have said it. But he is really mean, then it's obviously not true! I told to the ninjas that my dad was too nice to lie, but they did not listen. It seems that if my dad do not say what he was doing that night, they'll have to rummage in his head. I didn't understood how, but if they do it, my dad he will go to prison for a very long time. And I don't want my daddy to leave. I asked the neighbor to tell the truth but he told me that my dad was meaner than I thought. So I decided to make divination to find a way to help, as my Grandma teaches me. I looked at the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup and they said "Digging" and "noodles" ... I guess. "

When Tenten finished, Steven did not know if he should be intrigued or stuns. His mind decided to start with bewilderment. He thought, half-horrified and with a frozen face.

'She tried to save the freedom of her father with NOODLES ?!'

Then he relaxed and realized that she had found herself embroiled into something big, a real police case. But he had still not fully grasped everything, he asked for clarifications to the old man, who had heard the story with surprise and pity for the child.

"Excuse me." Called out Steven . "What is your name?"

The cook replied.

"My name is Teuchi."

"I'm not from Konoha Teuchi-san." Reminded the geek. "Do you know why his father has problems?"

The old man thought for a moment.

"I do not know him well." Teuchi confessed. "It's not one of my regulars. His family, the Hasaki, prefers the spring rolls from the restaurant at the other side of the town."

"Spring rolls is Super Good!" Tenten exclaimed.

Teuchi continued as if nothing happened.

"But if the shinobis are interrogating his father, the case must be serious."

Steven then asked what Tenten meant by " to rummage in his head."

Teuchi, who was a sociable person, explained him without problem.

"Here in Konoha, we have a ninja clan with a special technique that permit to read other's mind. But if anyone compels the law enforcements to use this technique, then this is noted in his police record and if they have lied before, he is considered untrustworthy. This is disgrace. And it means a six months prison sentence at least I think. "

Steven understood that this problem was a serious one. He was not surprised to hear that ninjas were capable of something like this. He had read enough to know what amazing things Shonen's heroes were able to do. The geek looked at the little girl, whose sadness was more visible than ever. He could not stand the silence, so he asked her the first question that came to his mind.

"Why is your father in difficulty ?"

Tenten reacted violently.

"I don't know! There's no reason! He is a nice guy, not a criminal!"

The little girl began to cry. The teenager treated himself internally a fool. He clearly was unlucky with children. He felt ashamed. Teuchi felt compassion for the child. The geek felt responsible for her grief; He also felt obliged to repair his mistake, as he had done for Naruto.

Steven then asked with kindness, driven by guilt.

"Excuse me little girl. Can I do something to help you?"

The child slowly calmed, raising her misted eyes abroad. She wiped her face and asked, hesitantly.

"Anything?"

"Anything." Steven confirmed with a smile.

"Can ... Can you help me to save my dad?"

Steven thought.

'Anything EXCEPT that !'

Teuchi tried to call out the girl, but he himself did not know what to say. Steven would tell the child what he thought but stopped when he saw her face. Her eyes seemed filled with hope and begging for help, as if he were his last chance. Steven knew he should not meddle with such a story. He attempted a diversion for not respond immediately to her petition.

"You seems to like him very much. What's his job ?"

At least Tenten smiled. She declared, still looking at him.

"My dad is a blacksmith. He is the best in the entire world and my mom sells what he makes. The entire city come to buy or repair things. Before he was a very strong ninja, except that his leg was injured so he had to stop to be a blacksmith. But he still takes a lot of time to play with me and later he will teach me everything he knows to make me strong when I will go to the ninja academy. He is so cool. "

Once again, Steven felt that he had dug his own grave. It was the second time that day. He thought for a second.

'If my life becomes a permanent rerun, I jump from a bridge. There's nothing worse than reruns. '

The look of the little girl was even more filled with hope. Trying to change the subject, Steven made her rather believe that he was interested in what she had requested. He cursed himself. He felt ready to run away, but the more he looked to the child, the more he envied her. She loved and respected her father honestly, more than anything else. He would like to be like her. He prevaricated.

"Listen little one ... I do not think I can do anything for you. I'm just a traveler, and still pretty lost ..."

He stopped seeing the child losing her smile. She was about to cry again. It was too much for the geek. To refuse the request of a crying child seemed almost criminal to him. Steven finally sighed.

"But I will help you a little bit."

The child made a huge smile and thanked Steven fidgeting on her chair. Teuchi looked stunned. The cook asked, whispering to the stranger.

"Sir ... What are you talking about?"

The geek replied softly at him.

"I don't really have a choice. Did you see how she looked at me? How could I refuse her anything?"

Teuchi wanted to tell him something else, but after a long hesitation, he could not do anything except agree. He confessed.

"I understand. I have a daughter. I know how it is. But what will you do then?"

There, Steven was slow to respond. He thought a moment, watching the intrigued Cook and girl, who tremendously stressed him. He had no idea how to help Tenten's father, so he did what he does the best: To compare the situation to stories he already read or saw. He thought.

If I remember well the hundreds of hours I spend in front of the TV series, Anime and video games of investigation ... The first logical thing to do is to question the witnesses. '

There was only one apparently, the neighbors of the Tenten's family. The geek rose from his chair and began to leave the restaurant. He asked.

"Well, let's go then. Can you take me to your neighbor? The mean one ?"

Tenten stood up, smiling, and began to run. Steven took one last glance at the cook, greeting him and then began to follow the girl.

Teuchi saw them leave with a hint of concern. Tenten was alone with a stranger, and she hoped that he solves the problems of his father. He feared that this story could only end badly. He would have probably be less worried if he knew that a person with a cat mask was following the young man closely.

* * *

Steven walked behind Tenten with his hands in the pockets. He still did not know what he could do to help her and her father. He even thought about telling her how much it was ridiculous. But when he saw this child and her determination, he lost that desire.

The dynamic duo finally arrived near a beautiful house with a very high fireplace.

'It must be the forge.' Steven deducted.

The sign "Residence of Hasaki family" confirmed his idea.

The child took the geek to the house in front of hers. When they were facing the door, the little girl said.

"That's the house of my nasty neighbor. Tell him to tell the truth about my dad."

Steven sighed wearily. He explained to the child.

"Okay fine, I'll talk to him. But in that case, move back a little. Why do not you sit down on the step in front of your door."

Tenten looked confused. She asked to the stranger why and he replied.

"If you want me to help your father, I have to do things my way. And for that, I need to be alone a bit. Trust me."

The girl hesitated, she still did not understand. But she finally obeyed and get away without losing eyes contact.

Steven ran a hand over his face. He thought about how he was going to explain to a stranger that he wanted to know things about his neighbor, a suspected criminal, because his daughter "hired" him, a stranger, to exonerate him. The geek remembered that in the detective series, guys asking questions without the police were often hated, and did not generally had a lot of responses from the people they questioned.

The solution seemed risky but simple. To not say anything about his situation. He had to create some kind of link with Tenten's neighbor. The teen knew how. He knocked on the door, taking his Level One Bored Face.

A bald middle-aged man opened the door. His edgy air showed that he did not like to be bothered. And to be bothered by a stranger with funny clothes was the worst. He questioned the teenager a dry way.

"What do you want?"

Steven sighed, his head in one hand. He replied with a very annoyed tone.

"Excuse me, but I promised the girl behind me to ask you something."

The neighbor looked behind him and saw Tenten pouting and watching the two men intently. Steven said.

"I did not want to do but she got on my nerves. Damn kids."

The neighbor agreed.

"That's true. You're not from here, is it not?"

Steven had enough of this question.

"No." He replied "I am a traveler. I didn't know that you welcome tourists this way in Konoha."

The neighbor whispered.

"Excuse this child. His father has problem with the law and she refuses to face the truth."

Steven asked.

"What do you mean? He's a criminal?"

The neighbor replied.

"No. Apart from the little demon and snake whore, there are only respectable people in Konoha. But this stupid blacksmith should be locked up for when he decides to work late. Hammer's blows does not help to sleep. "

Steven continued, understanding.

"A blacksmith who work at night? What an idiot. But then what's the problem?"

"The shinobis asked if Akahiko, that's his name, was in his forge that night, after twenty o'clock. And I can guarantee that he wasn't, I've seen him going out in the evening but after, I slept like a baby. "

Steven said.

"And this would have inevitably awake you if he had worked. Isn't it?"

The old bald man approved.

"Sure, I'm a light sleeper."

Steven then asked.

"And where did he goes yesterday?"

The neighbor raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you want to know?"

Steven pointed Tenten with his thumb.

"To have something to say to that little nagging girl. Or she will not leave me alone, please."

The cantankerous old man seemed to understand. He pointed a finger to a street. The young geek thanked the old man and turned his back. the neighbor closed his door while Steven joined Tenten thinking.

'And the award goes to ... STEVEN RYAN!'

The girl got up, full of excitement, and questioned him.

"So? Did he told the truth?"

Steven hesitated. He only listened to neighbor's story and had a direction. If he indeed lied, it was a very convincing liar, but with a motive to cause problems to the father of Tenten. But if he told the truth ...

The teenager was sincere with the little girl.

"Tenten ... Your neighbor is always saying that your father was not there."

"What?" Screamed the little girl. "It's a liar!"

The stranger, predicting that she was about to rush to the neighbor's door, grabbed her by the shoulders and told her to calm down.

"Not so fast. If it really is a liar, we must prove that he lied Tenten, not just ask him to talk."

The child asked, high-spirited.

"So...What do we do?"

Steven knew the answer to his question, but he wanted to cry just by thinking about it.

"We have to go in that over there and ask people if they have seen your father last night."

The geek indicated the direction the bald neighbor pointed. He suspected that he might have to talk to many people. Tenten asked why they had to do that. Steven told her it was the only way to show if the neighbor had lied or not.

"But he lied! "

Steven tried to explain the problem nicely.

"Listen Tenten. I do not say that your father is a bad guy. But he did not explained where he was yesterday and that's why he has problems. If we find where he was and say it to the shinobis, everything will be resolved. "

Tenten thought for a moment. She was not sure to understand everything. But she finally said cheerfully.

"Okay! If we can help dad like that, so let's go!"

Steven stroked her head and smiled. Then she began to run down the street.

But as she turned geek's back on, he lost his smile. Tenten did not realize, but she might be very disappointed in the end. Steven, however, was well aware of how his father was in trouble.

If the neighbor had lied, it would be impossible to prove as long as Tenten's father do not tell the truth. And he did not seem to be willing to tell it. If ninjas questioned the father of Tenten, Akahiko Hasaki, it meant that he was suspected of having information about a serious matter, or to be responsible of a crime. And the fact that he refuses to talk, the neighbor telling the truth or not, made him very suspicious.

The young man had a heavy heart. He thought.

'Poor little girl. I'm afraid that this story do not end well for her and her father. '

* * *

That's it. Sorry again for the wait T-T

The next chapter, I try to be faster. Meanwhile, what did you think? Is it good? A little review maybe. ^^

I hope the name I chose for tenten's family is okay for you. I did not know what to take so I took the Japanese word meaning "Blade tip ."

See you soon ;-)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hello everyone;-)

I will not talk about my life, you are not there for that XD

So here continue the adventures of Steven and Tenten ... and of course Naruto = 3 = (whistles)

P.S: The french i am say sorry for my lack of english vocabulary XD

* * *

Chapter 4:

'Voilà!' thought Steven, pleased.

He was glad to have seen himself in the reflection of a window.

The bowl of ramen that little Tenten had send on his head had, because of the soup, completely undone his little strand. So he took a moment to redo his hair. He thought.

'Without it, my hair would not be the same. Before, I had an ordinary pile of brown hair. Now I have a pile of brown hair with a hyper class Strand. Thank you Pandora Heart. '

After this horrible mental publicity, Steven turned to the girl sitting next to him. She was looking at him with impatience and curiosity.

When the geek had stopped to redo his hairs, without warning, Tenten tried everything to make him continue to walk. She tried to catch Steven's attention, it was like talking to a wall. She had then push him, bellowing to hurry ... It was like trying to move the mountain of the four Hokage. Exhausted, and Steven not even noticing him, she finally sat down and waited.

Intrigued by her gaze, Steven asked.

"What ?"

The little in red Chinese dress declared.

"You're like my mom."

The Geek did not understand. He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"She also spends half an hour doing her hairs."

The English chuckled, a little embarrassed, and tried to object.

"Well... you're exaggerating."

She replied, pointing a finger to a shop.

"No, I saw the clock there. It was exactly half an hour."

Steven had the impression to receive a huge rock on the head. He prayed inwardly that no one has saw him. He felt that his man pride would not survive to this. Tenten questioned.

"Why do you spend so much time on your hair? Especially on that strand ?"

There, the teenager felt it was his duty to respond, taking a ridiculous pose, pointing to the stars and beyond.

"Little girl, you must know that this strand is not a normal strand. This is the hairstyle of a great man. And the fact that I have the same hairstyle as him made me a cool guy. "

The girl did not flinch. Steven remained in that position for a moment. Tenten finally declared.

"You're weird."

Steven collapsed to the ground. But he got up laughing a little, he usually finds it weird. But, usually, people say that this in a low voice, when they thought he heard nothing, with a bunch of despise. The girl said it innocently, without malice, so he wasn't angry even one second. However, he explained.

"You know it is not a very nice thing to say to someone."

Tenten replied with the face of a proud student who learned well her lesson.

"But this is what I think and it's not good to lie. It was my dad who taught me that Strange-san."

There, Steven got mad a little.

"Hey! I have a name!"

"You did not told me your name."

The geek had to recognize that she was right. He informed her, with a sigh.

"My name is Steven Ryan." Before she destroys his name, he added, remembering Naruto. "You can call me Rai-san."

Tenten seemed to take a moment to accept the information. Then she said, smiling.

"Okay Rai-san."

Steven could only think that she was cute. Especially since he knew why she was so anxious to clear her father's name. She does not only admire him, he was the one who told her that lying was wrong. This made her story even sadder for the English. His father did not seem really innocent for now. But he promised to help this child. He expressed, smiling.

"What if we try to help your dad now?"

The girl was excited at the idea of investigating to save his father. She asked the geek what they should do. Steven looked around thoughtfully.

They were in the street the neighbor pointed before, a shopping street. There was no indication that Akahiko Hasaki, Tenten's father, either stop in the street, but it was his only lead. Apparently, they were at one of the end of the town. The mountain's faces were a little to the right of them and there were only trees on the left. He could also see, lifting his head a little, the great wall that surrounded the city. The teenager thought about all of this, and concluded that it was good news.

"The chances that he wanted to go on this street are high. If he wanted to go to the other end of town, he wouldn't have come here. Except if he wanted to confuse some followers by using the long way. If it is a dangerous criminal, this is unfortunately not yet impossible. '

The geek walked a little, observing around him, ignoring the curious glances that some passers addressed him. He was too focused to take care of that kind of thing. Arriving at the end of the street, in front of a field surrounded by a wall, belonging to a certain Hyuuga family, he recapped the potentially important informations he had noticed.

'This is a real shopping street. All the shops close at nineteen and thirty. the buildings all have upper floors, they are all obviously their owners home. My theory that he had planned a burglary fell through. So unless he is preparing a coup d'état, or participate to evil cult's ritual, there is only one type of place where he was able to go. The only places still open on this street after twenty o'clock: the Bars.

Steven knew that saying you were at the bar, potentially drinking too much, wasn't honorable, but it was not a sufficient reason to lie to the police, unless you are excessively afraid of your wife's reaction. The geek felt a pulling on a piece of his shirt. He left his reflection and saw Tenten, a little annoyed, trying to get his attention.

"What, little one?" Steven questioned.

The girl asked.

"Are you really looking for?"

The young man understood that he didn't seemed to be really doing it. And a little girl had probably difficulty to understand that an investigation was more reflection than action. Fortunately, he was not going to disappoint her. He lowered his face and told her.

"Yes Tenten. Actually, it is now that I need your help."

The girl regained her energy and asked.

"What do I do?"

Steven explained that pointing at the street where they came from.

"You have to go into all the bars on this street and ask the managers if your father was there last night. And if they ask you why you want to know, you say your father forgot his purse in a bar, but he does not remember which one. And if they ask why it is you who take care of this, you replied that it's because your father is busy at the forge. Will you remember? "

He was aware it was a lot for a child, but, obviously, she was more clever than other little girls. Tenten, a little confused, finally said, shocked.

"But it's a lie!"

Steven had to quickly replicate. But he expected this reaction.

"No Tenten, these are Tricks."

The girl seemed lost. She asked to the geek.

"Some Tricks? This is not the same thing?"

"Not at all." Steven told. "The lies, it's to hurt people. The tricks, it is to help them. The ninjas use a lot of tricks you know."

Tenten was still a little lost. She thought before declaring, unconvinced.

"Well ... If it can help Dad, I will try."

The English boy smiled, stroking her head. Then he let her go. He was a little ashamed to let a child do this kind of task, but it was the only solution. He knew that no one would answer his questions if he asked himself. A stranger asking about the activities of a respectable citizen, for now, would attract more death stares than answers. At the opposite, asked by the lovely girl of the referenced citizen, they would have no difficulty to speak.

Until the little legs of Tenten took her in all the bars on this street, Steven had no other choice but to wait. A little tired by his long walk, he decided to sit a bit. He noticed a cool spot in the shade of a tree. He decided to settle there, praising the one who had the good idea to keep the vegetation inside the walls of Konoha.

Steven sat in the middle of some flowers, slumping a bit against the tree. He took his MusicPlayer-3 and closed his eyes listening "One" by Metallica. This relaxing moment was welcome.

The air was much more pleasant than in London. The time seemed to pass more slowly, like a small stream gently going down. The weather was warm and a cool breeze was felt from time to time. Steven knew it was October here, winter is coming. He hoped for a moment to be back home before the release of Dragon Age Inquisition.

He tried to focus on the music. He might depress again if he thought about what he would miss and never see. He had to think about something else.

The song still liked this music so much. But he wanted to change it now. He opened his eyes leaving his MP-3 from his pocket. But when his thumb stopped his music, his eyes met those of another person next to him.

Steven discovered a new little girl, half fell to the ground, catching Steven's eyes.

'There's more children than ninja or What?' He thought.

She seemed to have the same age than Naruto, and her short black hair made her even cuter than Tenten. Then he noticed her eyes. They were white. As white as pearl and without pupils. It was a shock for Steven; He saw thousands of strange things in his comics and movies, but to see such a thing in real life was different. He tensed and cringed. The child stood up and did the same, she seemed intimidated, like a kitten about to flee.

Steven looked at the girl with short black hair straight in the eyes for several seconds. It was hard to believe what he saw, but at the same time he remembered having seen this eyes somewhere.

Without warning, the girl bowed in front of Steven and stammered.

"I-I'm so-so-sorry to have wake you up!"

Steven was a little confused, then he corrected gently.

"No, no, don't worry. I wasn't not sleeping at all. I just closed my eyes for a moment."

The girl get up, clutching a small notebook, but she did not seem quieter than before. It seemed that the young geek's look was scaring her. That bothered him a lot. There is no merit in bringing fear to innocent children, even if he wasn't sure about how much those of this world really were.

The geek, while removing and storing the MusicPlayer-3, looked at the ground to try to discover what the girl was taking beside him. He saw nothing apart small yellow flowers and one purple. Randomly, and to not stand like an idiot, Steven tore the purple one and handed it to the girl asking, curious.

"Is this what you wanted?"

The girl hesitated a moment before confirming with a nod.

"So take it." Told Steven smiling.

The child was surprise. But, slowly, she took the colorful plant. She gave a shy "thank you" to Steven. Then an awkward silence settled. Steven began to hate it. So he spoke to the child, the more gently as possible.

"Is it for your mom?"

The girl was surprised by the question, and she replied, stammering a bit.

"N-No. It's for my herbarium ... B-but I was going to take a few for her too."

Steven watched collecting a large bouquet of yellow flowers. This touching scene reminded him of some very distant memories. This made him declared.

"All of them for her? She's lucky."

The child seemed confused, but at the same time quite pleased to hear that. She replied, contemplating the floral gift.

"She is the nicest mom in the world. She deserve it."

The teenager envied her. He thought with a sudden and profound melancholy.

'All the kids think that at this age ... at this age.'

Then he was violently surprised and jumped, with the girl, hearing a powerful male voice, sharp and oppressive. The kind that Steven hated.

"Hinata!" Yelled the voice.

The girl turned in one go, more intimidated than with Steven's look. There was more fear in her attitude this time. Steven turned his head slightly behind the tree and saw a man who looked exactly like he imagined him when he heard his voice: Mature, proud and so authoritative that he looked almost tyrannical. He had the same eyes as the little girl, and long black hair. It was obviously someone of the same family. He approached the girl.

"How many times did I told you to not leave the domain not being accompanied?"

The girl mumbled an apology while the man took her hand without the slightest affection.

"S-S- Sorry Father."

"And I told you to not stutter." Growled the father. "Come, we go home immediately. And you will be logged in your room as punishment, for this time."

The man began pulling his daughter bluntly. Steven had a little pity for the child. But more than that, much more, he felt anger rising inside of him. He should not do anything, he knew it. It was not his business. He stood up and growled.

"Hey! Don't you think you're exaggerating!"

The father and his child stopped suddenly and turned to the young man, one with an annoyed curiosity, the other with a fearful surprise. The man wondered who could challenge him like this, in such a way, and the little girl, what could possibly have made angry this kind, although strange, sir, to whom she had spoken. Steven asked exactly the same question.

"Excuse me?" Asked the old man, astonished by the dress of his interlocutor.

The boy, carried away by anger, approached telling.

"She may be your daughter but that does not justify to scream on her like that. She just wanted some flowers for her mother."

"By what right are you involving?" Questioned the father.

The geek was unpleasantly surprised by his own attitude.

'It is true.' He thought ' What am I doing ? '

Certainly he did not like how this man speaks to his daughter. But it was not a reason to be so angry, to lose control. Especially since Steven was absolutely not the angry kind, at least he thought, remembering how he avoided troubles in general. He could not stop.

"I involve with what I desire. You have the right to be upset, but not to yell at her like a dog and threaten her !"

The father of the little girl, named Hinata, seemed to do an effort to hide how much he was outraged by this affront. But, he did not seem to do a so great one, he must have an strong discipline. He looked for a moment the young boy and questioned him.

"You're not from Konoha , is not it?"

Steven was tired of this question. He answered, still growling.

"Yeah, so what?"

The man seemed to relax and turned his back to Steven. But his attitude seemed filled with contempt.

"So you better mind your own business and get out of here as soon as possible. You clearly do not know at who you are talking to."

Steven was ready to explode. He thought he was even able to catch the man by the collar. Fortunately, a more cheerful voice was heard.

"Rai-saaaaan"

Steven turned and saw the little Tenten running towards him. She exclaimed.

"I did what ya told me. I went to all bars."

She then noticed the two people behind the detective. She saw that the great man was angry and the little girl, scared. She looked and saw that Steven was not very happy either. She was a little troubled now.

"Do I ... bother you?" She asked.

The geek would not add Tenten in this story, and he was tired of this guy. He sighed and took a blow to the Hasaki.

"No Tenten-chan. It's okay. Come on, we will discuss further."

Steven began to go down a street. The two people with white eyes did the same. But before going further, Steven stopped and spoke without turning to them.

"Hey girl!"

The young Hinata and her father stopped and turned their eyes towards the stranger. This one declared.

"Do not forget to give your flowers. Do not that incident make you forget the essential."

After that, the English left again, followed by Tenten. Hinata was a little surprised by his words. His father frowned one last time before to go, holding his daughter firmly by the hand. The girl looked at her flowers, she was deep in thought. She would not forget to offer the bouquet to her mother. She would not forget this day.

Later, in some street, Steven sat down on a bench in a small park. Tenten did the same, a little lost. The poor girl did not understand why Steven was in a bad mood. The young man did not understand it well himself.

He had never really been angry in his life. He didn't remember to have been so clearly mad once. Generally, his days had only a bit of excitement, laughter, sadness, because of Anime. Aside from that, he never expressed anything. But there he was, yelling at a man he did not know, because he was too strict with a child. He did not understand what happened to him.

Steven remembered the little Hasaki, Tenten was sitting next to him. He looked at her with a smile and asked.

"So Tenten, what have you learned?"

The child was a little hesitant about what she would say.

"Well ... Nobody saw my dad last night."

Steven lost hope for a moment, but Tenten finished.

"But this is weird. In one of the bars, the Shamisen Bar, the barman said my dad does not patronize bars. But his neighbor said that my dad often went there, like all his customers who love play cards. It's weird. "

Steven was surprised a moment. He thought for a second about that information. Then, suddenly, he felt better. He finally had a lead. He stroked the head of the child saying.

"Congratulations Tenten, it is a good job. Can you wait here a moment?"

The girl looked confused. She did not understand what she does well. Completely lost, she just nodded and saw Steven going to the shopping street.

The geek came up to the Shamisen Bar. For him, without money to sympathize, buying a drink, a strict confrontation seemed the best solution. Even if he thought that because he was still on the effect of the adrenaline from the fight with the father of Hinata. He entered inside the building, almost empty of people. There were only two people playing with cards, Hanafuda, betting small amounts of money. The guests of this place must be mostly nocturnal.

Steven discovered the bartender cleaning a few cups. He was a thin man, almost skeletal, with a long mustache and with a baldness not very good for his shampoo's provider. The tenant stopped rubbing on seeing a person dressed so strangely. He could have noted the hair but he had seen more strange haircut.

The English boy approached him with a determined look. He sat on the chair in front of him and looked him straight in the eye. The bartender did not flinch, he had obviously seen worst situations. He asked.

"Can I help you?"

Steven responded by blowing him.

"Tenten talked to you is it not?"

The bartender frowned.

"How do you know?"

Steven was quite intimidated by the very direct and inquisitive tone of this man. He realized that he had perhaps chosen the wrong approach. He tried to correct his attitude, honesty seemed a better option.

"It was I who demanded her to ask these questions."

The man with the mustache seemed even more suspicious. The geek continued.

"You know that his father, Akahiko Hasaki, has problems with the police?"

There, the bartender seemed surprised.

"No, I ... I did not know."

Steven continued to speak.

"I do not know the details but I'll try to be brief. The shinobi asked him what he did last night. He lied to them and now they are about to rack his brain."

The bartender was increasingly worried as the geek told.

"Then Tenten, his daughter, was very sad and worried. So after an accident, that I will not tell, and completely desperate to not be able to do anything, she asked me to help her father from being arrested. A lead led us to this street. I demanded Tenten to ask a question or two in the bars to see where her father was, since the bartenders would not have not anything to me. You have claimed that Akahiko does not often patronize bars. At the opposite of your neighbor, he claims that he often comes here. So one of you is lying. And there is no reason your neighbor would lied. He openly said that Akahiko comes here to drink. You, you almost deny the fact that he patronize bars. The only reason that comes to my mind is you do not want that Hasaki-san seemed alcoholic. So you wanted, somehow, to protect his honor so that her daughter does not know anything about that. Which means you know and see him enough to justify to lie . Is it not? "

The Bartender was impressed, but his face could not show if Steven was right. The geek himself knew that what he said was not based on anything concrete, but it was his only chance.

The mustachioed relaxed and smile. He seemed strangely happy. As far as the player who won the card game a little further.

"You make a lot of assumptions sir." Expressed the bartender.

Steven had the impression that he failed. But to his surprise, the barman said with a smile.

"But you're smart. I must admit that you impress me. I met a lot of smart people in the past, you look like them. I was shinobi you know. In Akahiko's team precisely. This is why he comes here from time to time. "

Steven assumed with a certain joy.

"So you confirm that he was there last night?"

The old man refuted.

"I do not confirm anything."

Steven panicked feeling that his lead was escaping.

"What? But you understand that if you do not confirm it, the father of Tenten, your colleague, will go to jail and be 'dishonored'?"

The old man, looking resigned, began to wash his glasses responding.

"Yes, I understand. But he deliberately lied. And if he insist on saying nothing, that's his choice. I have to accept it."

The English, again, felt anger. He rose from his chair clapping on the counter, screaming.

"You mean you're going to let him disappoint his daughter?"

His exclamation drew the attention of the two card players. The mustachioed skeleton does not even jump. He replied coldly.

"If he does not want to tell what he does this evenings, I will not act against his will. As a former partner and friend, it would be a form of betrayal. And I think I know what Akahiko has in mind. so yes, I'll stay here and act as if nothing was happening. "

The Steven's rabid gaze did not disrupted him. The Geek implicitly understood that he wasn't going to tell him what Tenten's father was going to do. Seeing that it was useless, the teenager was disenchanted.

He left up the chair he had overturned by holding up sharply. Then he started to walk towards the exit of the bar. However, he was interrupted by the bartender.

" I said that I would not say anything. You, you do what you want. If you want to tell the truth, do it. I will not stop you. I just think that some things should not be heard by all ears. "

Steven turned his face towards him and questioned.

"And how am I supposed to tell the shinobi what you refuse to tell me?"

The old mustachioed, who was still polishing his glasses, replied with a smile.

"I told you. You're smart."

The geek was flattered by the compliment, but he did not want to celebrate. He went out of Shamisen Bar under the look of intrigued Hanafuda players, which resumed their part when he got out once and for all.

The English, dragging his feet, went to the little park where he had left the little girl. He did not feel good about the idea of seeing her again. He was ashamed. He said he did not promise him anything, but he could not help but be angry. When he would tell at Tenten that he had no way to prove that her father was at the bar last night ... He dared not imagine the grief of the girl. He felt helpless, useless.

He saw her on the bench, happily humming and swinging her little legs. He didn't want to approach her. He had a heavy heart. But he could not escape it. He arrived and stood before her, his hands in his pockets and his collars rattling in the wind. When she saw what made the shadow on her, Tenten jumped off the bench, smiling. She asked the man she had chosen as Savior, full of vigor.

"So? Did you find something?"

He did not answer. He felt even more uncomfortable than ever. It was the heavy silence of his life. He cleared his throat once, without knowing how would react Tenten. She declared.

"Oh, you're thirsty and that's why you do not say anything, is it not? Wait I'll buy something."

Steven was completely taken by surprise. When he could try to stop her, a cowardly side of himself did not let him do it. He looked the child in red chinese dress running. He sighed a big blow and sat on the bench, resigned to wait for the return of the child as a guilty person waiting the sentence. He stood for a moment, his eyes looking at the sky, as he did whenever he feel lost. He knew that he was in another world and yet ... it was like the sky looked exactly the same as in London, although it is a perfect blue and not gray like there. Then he had a strange feeling. As if someone was watching. He turned his head in one direction and then another, but he saw nothing. He began to think, without knowing that there was indeed someone else looking at him from the rooftops.

He thought about what the bartender told him.

"You're smart. "

It was a nice compliment. But in Steven's mind, it sounded like a 'you're alone'. Steven thought about everything he had seen and heard today. In everything he had said. He blamed himself for not being able to help Tenten. He felt like he had all the pieces of the puzzle, except one. It was frustrating. Steven studied them again to understand what piece of the puzzle was missing. He still lacked the core of the problem : Why did Tenten's father lied? What could he be doing in a bar that justifies lying to Shinobis and risking disgrace? Especially since his wife had sustained his lie. He had assumed that she had lied to cover her husband's, by devotion. But maybe she was an accomplice. It was not impossible after all. He knew nothing about this family.

At this point, Steven felt it was better to abandon. In court cases, there's always a prosecutor to accuse and a defense lawyer. But only one is right. Why would he be in the camp that is right?

All this was annoying him. All his years watching detective series with his mother was visibly of no avail. He loves these shows, but he felt that if he had not seen them, he would not be so frustrated. Perhaps it would not have even made him do that stupid promise to Tenten. He remembered why he increasingly began to look at them. His father wanted him to do something with his mother to say he was not addicted to video games. It was when her opinion was still important to him. He was perhaps a bit addicted at the time, but he did not want that she think that.

It was a trigger in the mind of Steven. He made comparisons with episodes of series and Anime. He finally had a link. There was no evidence that it was really that, but it was the one and only explanation justifying ALL the elements.

Tenten came with a small bottle. She explained on arrival.

"There was that juice in my store. I hope ..."

She was interupted by Steven who grabbed her hand and ran into the street where they had come.

"Het ... What's happening?" Asked the girl, taken by surprise.

"I found it Tenten! I understandd everything! We will save your father!"

They passed in front of the Shamisen Bar. The owner saw the teenager running. A small smile appeared on his face.

* * *

And one more chapter:-)

I hope you still like it. A little review in the hat perhaps? ;-)

I wanted to solve the case in this chapter, but I thought it was better to make a big suspense here to let a chance to let you find the answer yourself ;-)


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